Almost Normal
by humanweakness
Summary: AU. Buffy and Faith have met in Sunnydale more than ten years ago, but lost touch once they graduated high school and started college. Now's the year 2009, and they are unknowingly working in the same city. [Same sex relationships, so don't read if you're offended or not into that]
1. Cocky and a Little Annoying

**Disclaimer:** AU. No slayers, no vampires, no demons, no magic... I do NOT own any of the known characters. I'm just borrowing them for a little while. They belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I borrow some lines from the show, though, from time to time, to fit my own purposes and personal amusement. Hopefully yours, too.

The advertising part has been greatly influenced by _The Crazy Ones_, so thank you David E. Kelley and CBS for that.

**Rating: M**. Strong language and sexual innuendos.

**Summary: **Buffy and Faith have met in Sunnydale more than ten years ago, but lost touch once they graduated high school and started college. Now's the year 2009, and they are unknowingly working in the same city.

**Author's note #1:** The "kitchen situations" may or may not be real (ok, fine, they all are)

* * *

**Chapter 01: Cocky and a Little Annoying**

"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! She's so gonna get on my ass if I'm late today!" the half dressed girl runs and stumbles in her apartment while she gets her boots on and grabs her keys at the same time "Holy shit! That hurt! FUCK!" she just bumped her bare foot on the coffee table. She opens her apartment door, grabs her leather jacket and a black helmet and slams the door behind her. While finishing zipping up her boots she pushes the button for the elevator. It doesn't take long to arrive, and she gets in at the same time that her iPhone starts ringing "Oh, shit!" she slides her thumb across the screen and answers it while trying to smooth her chocolate-brown long hair a little on the elevator mirror "I'm almost there! Just a little caught up in traffic" she says at the exact same time that the elevator reaches the lobby with a loud 'DING!' clearly audible through the phone. She pauses for a few seconds "No, 'course I don't think that!" another pause while getting out of the elevator and putting on a pair of dark blue Ray Ban wayfarer sunglasses "Ok, fine!" she gets out of the building zipping up her jacket and running to the parking lot "I'll be there in ten minutes… I'm sorry!" she hangs up the phone and puts it in her pocket. She reaches a black Ninja motorcycle, puts her helmet on and get it started as fast as she can "Bad day to oversleep, asshole…" she mumbles to herself and starts off towards the street.

Twelve minutes later she pulls up in front of a restaurant with a 'CLOSED' sign on the door and gets off the bike taking the helmet off but not the sunglasses. There's a few girls and guys outside with folders and papers on their hands, making small talk while they wait for something. Or someone. They have no idea what's going on. She goes past them, getting some looks in the meantime, unlocks the door and goes in, only to find a very irritated blonde standing in the middle of the room, with her arms crossed over her chest "Why would you EVER lie to me? Like I haven't covered up for you before? Or you for me, for that matter?"

"Sorry T, I overslept" she says, starting to walk past the blonde towards the end of the room. "We've known each other for ten years, Faith. Don't you ever lie to me again, I thought that was one of our implicit rules…?" the blonde girl says as she follows her through a door with the sign 'Private. Staff Only'. Faith goes a little further down the room filled with lockers and opens one of the two doors that are there in the back, the one on the right. She leaves the door open and the blonde takes that as a sign to follow, so she does "I know, I know…" she throws the helmet down on the couch and takes her sunglasses off, leaving them on the desk "I'm sorry, it's just that I didn't wanna screw up today Tara…" she says looking down at her boots like a child that just broke something and got caught. Tara has to let out a little laugh at this "You haven't screwed anything up. All I'm saying is: don't lie. If you're late, then you're late. I'm not gonna get mad at you for that. You've been my best friend for a long time now and I've accepted that sometimes punctuality isn't you thing, especially in the morning" she looks at Faith smiling "You're the best, you know that, right?" now Faith's smiling too. "I do" the blonde says "Now, make yourself look like the goddamned awesome chef you are, and come out! We have lots of people who want to work in your kitchen and they're waiting" having said that the blonde goes out the room and back to the sitting area of the restaurant.

Five minutes later the brunette comes out to join the blonde again, but now she's wearing a black chef jacket with the sleeves slightly pulled up and the name 'Faith Lehane' embroidered in white just above her left breast. Her hair is a lot less messier now but still loose "I'm not gonna do all of it, the jacket should be enough to intimidate them" she says, getting an eye roll from Tara "Fine, as long as you stay here and not in the kitchen. Should we start?" she asks "Sure…" the blonde stands up from the table she's in and goes to open the door while Faith sits down at said table. About twenty guys and girls enter the restaurant and sit over at the tables near the entrance still making small chat. She's sitting on a table that's far away from the ones where all the other people are and can't hear anything that's going on, but she's already bored and that's very visible when the blonde comes back to the table with a young man "Faith, this is Mark. Mark, this is chef Faith Lehane" she says as an introduction. The brunette shakes his hand and motions for the guy to sit down. As he does, he hands them over an envelope with some papers on it, that Tara takes and starts reading. "So, Mark…" Faith looks straight at him and you can tell the guy feels a little intimidated "I take it you're a chef, right?" she asks. The guy nods with a cocky smile and Tara finishes reading all the pages and hands them to Faith now. The brunette takes them, but leaves them on the table "I don't need this…" she says to the blonde and looks at the guy again "Where've you worked?" Then Mark start answering all the questions Faith's throwing at him, until she tells him that that's all she needs to know. Then Tara lets him know that they'll call him when they have some news and Mark stands up to leave the table and thanks them.

"He's SO not gonna be in my kitchen!" Faith says looking a Tara once the guy is out of the place "What's wrong with him? He has great references and went to a good school and-"

"And he's an asshole" Faith interrupts her.

"What? Why?"

"He's cocky and a little annoying"

"Though that was a 'chef thing'…?"

"Oh, shut up! You know I've been cocky long before I became a chef"

"Oh yeah, that I know…" she says smiling. Faith smiles back at her "Why do we have to do this? You know I hate interviewing people! That's your… business thing, not mine" Tara looks at her in the eye "Because you need a sous-chef. You can't keep trying to do everything. You need help Faith, and I can't do this alone, this is something you have to be a part of"

"I had help, we're not gonna find someone better than her" Faith says frowning. The blonde smiles sweetly "I know, and she was great, that's why you let her go, remember?" she pauses and sees the brunette starting to soften a little "Yeah…" the blonde then continues "While working on your kitchen Diana got the opportunity of her life. Someone wanted her to run her own kitchen. She wanted to stay with you and you were the one who told her to take that chance…" the blonde trails off "Fine, whatever… Bring the next one…" the blonde then gets up from her chair "Take your time, we'll find someone as good as her, you'll just have to be patient"

"Right, 'cause that's my area of expertise!" Faith snorts and folds her arms across her chest again.

Tara comes back with another guy, much younger than the previous one "Faith, this is Justin" she says introducing the young man and eyeing his papers. Before Faith has time to shake his hand he's sitting across from her and taking her right hand in both of his "OMG, I can't believe this! I'm being interviewed by chef Faith Lehane!" he lets out a little squeaky sound and Faith rolls her eyes at him and takes her hand away from his. Tara looks up from his CV and immediately regrets bringing this man to the table. "I mean, you're amazing! I've tried your food and I can't even begin to describe it. You're kind of a legend at school, you know? Everybody's talking about you and-" he attempts to keep taking but Faith interrupts him right away "No"

Both Tara and Justin look at her in silence. The blonde tries to hide her smile. He's looking at Faith a little confused. None of them says anything, so Faith repeats, looking directly at Tara this time "No" she says, pointing at the guy with her index finger, even knowing that she's being extremely rude. The blonde takes a little compassion and smiles sweetly at Justin while Faith gets up from her chair and goes to get some water "Justin, I'm really sorry about that. If she's a 'legend'…" she says making air quotes "…then you should know that she has some temper" the guy nods sadly, knowing that he just screwed up his job interview "I really am sorry" the blonde says standing up so the guy would do the same and shakes his hand "Thank you anyway".

Faith comes back with two bottles of water and gives one to the blonde "Ya bring me someone like 'that' again, and I'm fuckin' outta here, got it?" Tara nods her head and takes the bottle.

After about two hours of bad and very bad interviews, Tara comes to the table politely talking with a young blonde-with-some-pink-locks girl, the last one there. She doesn't look over 22, maybe 23 years old. She motions toward Faith "This is chef Faith Lehane" the girl shakes Faiths hand and waits to be told to sit down before doing so across the other two girls "Here's my CV" she hands a copy to each one of them and then rests her hands over the table waiting for them to talk first. Faith looks at her for a few seconds already liking her attitude "What's your name, mama?" she asks with a smile, scanning quickly the first page of the CV and leaving it on the table while Tara starts reading her copy.

"Cassie, chef. Cassie Newton"

"Nice to meet ya, Cassie…" the girl nods her head respectfully at her with a little shy smile "So, I'll just ask you a few questions with what I need to know 'bout cha, k?"

"Of course, chef" the girl nods her head and looks at Faith straight in the eye, waiting. Faith gives her a very satisfied nod and starts asking "Am I correct assuming you're a chef?"

"Yes"

"For how long have you been?"

"Two years"

"How old are you?"

"Twenty three"

Faith nods pleased with the girl "Experience?"

"Two years. Since I graduated I started working"

"Both years in the same place?" the girl nods her head 'yes' "With…?"

"Chef Larry Blaisdell"

Faith snorts and nods "Still working in his kitchen?"

"Yes" Cassie looks at Tara now too, who finished reading her CV and now's looking at both chefs, listening with a smile on her face.

"Why are ya here then?" Faith asks with a little smile, letting the young girl know she can relax a little bit now that she has.

Cassie takes the hint and smiles too "Because I want to change that" she pauses a few seconds and Faith asks "Why?"

"He's…" another pause "…eccentric?" she says still smiling.

Faith chuckles "I know he's an asshole, it's a'ight. I've worked with him before" she leans back on her chair and looks at Tara smiling and giving her a short nod, and then at Cassie again "You live here in the city?"

"Yes, and not far from here"

Faith nods again with a satisfied smile "Is there anything you want to ask or tell us?" Tara asks smiling too.

The young girl thinks for a few seconds "Just what you can't read from my CV"

"And that is…?" Faith asks.

"I'm a responsible, hard working girl. I love what I do. This is my passion. So I want to work with someone who'll teach me things that you can only learn in a real kitchen and not at school" she finishes.

"Impressive…" says the brunette getting serious, and then looking at Tara "She's in. Whatever she wants, give it to her" her friend smiles widely and looks at Cassie extending her hand for the girl to shake "Welcome aboard, chef"

* * *

"What the fuck, Xander?! What are we supposed to do now?!" asks a very pissed off blonde woman.

"I have no idea, call Buffy, tell her what happened" answers the dark haired man that's in there with her. A group of eight people just walked out the door a few minutes ago and left the building.

"No way, you screwed up! You call her!"

"What's going on here?" a redheaded girl walks through the glass door of the meeting room "Everyone can hear you screaming, so maybe you want to lower you voice a little!"

"Xander screwed up. We lost the Ford account and all that money... Oh, the money..." the blonde woman says sitting on one of the chairs that are around the large wooden table rubbing her temple.

Xander smacks his forehead against the table al lets out a groan "She's gonna kill me, Will"

The redheaded girl closes de glass door and sits down next to him "What did you do?" the blonde woman opens her mouth but she's interrupted before she can say anything "I asked him, Anya. I swear I've learned to love you with the years, but sometimes you just need to shut up"

"Fine!" Anya stands up and walks to the door "But I'm not calling her" she opens the door and turns back to look at the two sitting at the large table "You deal with this Xander. It's not my job to KEEP the accounts, I just bring them!" the she looks directly at the redheaded girl "Willow maybe you should be with him when he tells her, she's gonna try and kill him, and I'm not ready to be a widow right now…" said this, she turns around and leaves the meeting room. She walks in a hurry through the large office filled with people working "I can't believe that just happened! Dammit!" she kicks a toy robot that's lying on the floor, shattering it against a wall "Oh, great! Now I broke my heel! I loved these shoes!" Anya takes her shoes off and takes the elevator barefooted "If anyone asks, I went home! And by 'anyone' I mean Buffy!" she screams for the whole office to hear as the elevator door closes and it takes her down. Once it reaches the ground level she walks out of the large building that says 'Jenkins & Summers' over the huge glass doors.

"We really need to go see her, Xander" Willow touches the guy's arm "She might be able to fix this"

Xander lifts his head from the table and looks at his best friend right in the eye "Yeah, I know…" he nods and slowly stands up and the redhead follows him outside the meeting room and to one of the biggest offices on the back. They can see through the glass walls that Buffy's inside, sitting at her desk and talking on the phone. She motions for them to enter when she sees them standing at the entrance, and both of them go inside and sit on the chairs across her desk "Yes" they hear her side of the conversation "Ok, don't worry. You call me as soon as you know what you want to do, and we can arrange a meeting. How does that sound?" there's a brief pause "Great! I'll be waiting for your call then, bye" she hangs up the phone and looks at the faces of the two sitting across from her "I know that look, what did you do?"

"I think that maybe… maybe… IjustlosttheFordaccount" Xander says looking terrified.

"I'm sorry, what?" the blonde says, looking from one of her friends to the other "I thought I heard you say you lost the Ford account…" she sees the guy start to slowly nod his head "Oh my god, Xander! What did you do?!" she desperately looks at the redheaded girl, but she shakes her head "I have no idea Buffy"

"They just didn't go for it" Xander started "They said it was the stupidest thing they've ever heard…"

"What? How can…?" the blonde starts thinking and then frowns "Did you just…? You changed it, didn't you?" she sees her friend nod his head and lets out a groan "Why would you do that? We had it Xander, we've been working on that for weeks, and you just went in there and changed everything?" she pauses, trying to calm herself and then looks at him straight in the eye "I swear to God, if you pitched that stupid 'chicks' thing or whatever I'm gonna start throwing things at you…" he looks at her and starts to slowly stand up while nodding. As soon as he sees her move, he runs out the door just in time before a flying high heeled shoe hits him on the back of his head.

"I know" Buffy's talking on the phone again. She's alone in her office and can see Willow at hers through the glass walls, typing madly at her computer "Of course" she pauses hearing the other side of the line and looks to the other side of the glass wall, seeing Xander with his forehead against his desk "Well, I'll be glad to see you personally this time if you could find a few minutes to come and have another meeting" she waits again "It was a mistake, that's not what we've been working on. I'm personally offering to show you what we have so far" she sighs away from the phone "Yes, we've been working with you for years, and because of that I think we deserve a second chance, don't you?" she smiles a little "Ok, that's fantastic. I'll see you here tomorrow at ten, is that ok?" Xander looks at her through the glass wall and she smiles and nods at him "That's perfect. Have a good day" she hangs up the phone and motions for her friend to come.

He does, immediately "So…?"

"So I just saved your ass! Now sit!" she motions for him to sit and he does "Tomorrow you're gonna be here at nine. Sharp. You'll be there in the meeting, but if you open your mouth, even if it is to breathe through it, I'm so gonna kick your as Xander, I swear to God" the guy gulps "I don't care that your wife is my partner here, she's a business woman and I know she'll understand why I have to kill you if you screw up again one of our biggest accounts" he nods and she keeps talking "You're working here because you're a smart, funny, creative guy, and you've had great ideas that helped us close a lot of deals, not because you're one of my bests friends since high school or my partner's husband" now she smiles a little bit "So get your shit together, and be that smart, creative guy, 'cause we have lots of accounts we should be working on" he knows she's serious. She never swears unless she's dead serious and a little pissed off, so he nods his head "Thank you!" he stands up "And I'm really sorry Buff…"

"I know…" She gives him a smile "Now go, you still have to come up with something for that new coffee thing…" he nods, smiles back and leaves her office.

* * *

"Who the fuck left this here like this?" Faith shouts to a kitchen full of working people. There's a big knife resting on one of the counters with the blade sticking out of it. This time she's dressed in her black chef jacket, black and white striped pants, a white apron tied at her waist and some black chef shoes. She's wearing her hair up completely covered by her tall chef hat. Everybody looks at her, but no one says anything "Ok, so no one did it! You're a bunch of fuckers, ya know that?" she takes the big knife and places it safely on another counter "…and by the way, I know it's yours, Ben! Grow a fuckin' pair and next time, speak up!"

Tara looks at the kitchen from the room that's full of people having dinner and sees Faith shouting through the glass walls "Thank God that's soundproofed…" she has a little ear piece that lets her hear everything that's going on in the kitchen in case she's needed there so no one have to come out to call her.

"Fuckers… I almost get stabbed in the ass… Fuckin' morons…" Faith keeps mumbling to herself while grabbing her own knife and starts cutting some vegetables. Cassie's standing right next to her laughing and giving the final touches to four plates at the same time. She's also in her 'uniform', but hers is a white jacket with her name embroidered in black letters, same pants and apron as Faiths, white chef shoes and all her hair up in her shorter chef hat "Thank God you're here, chef" the brunette says looking at her for a second while julienning some carrots and then looking back at her hands again. The blonde girl smiles at her while leaving the plates for the waitress to pick up and start working on the vegetables "You go tell them what you need them to do chef, I'll take this" Faith gives her a little nod and goes to where that Ben guy is standing doing nothing "Hey!" she yells and he looks up and sees her right in front of his face "…yeah?"

The brunette raises one eyebrow and glares at him "I'm sorry, what did ya just say…?" the guy goes pale and clears his throat "Yes, chef?"

Faith gives him one short nod "Havin' a good time, dude?" she folds her arms across her chest. He looks at his shoes and doesn't say a word, which pisses her off even more "Are ya planning on doin' anythin' useful or just leavin' knives for people in my kitchen to get stabbed?"

"Sorry chef" he says but still doesn't move.

"Oh, for fuck's sake! Move, dude!" she yells at him and the guy jumps in shock and immediately goes to pour something into a big boiling pot "…and then you ask why I got a new sous-chef instead of promoting one of you? Ya should be thankful that you're still here! Get your fuckin' shit together!" then she looks around her, talking to everyone else "This is the reason why chef Cassie is here!" she says looking and pointing at the blonde girl that hasn't stopped working "I need a pro in my kitchen, and she is one! So you better fuckin' step up your game, 'cause I'm getting' tired of this shit already!" she takes a step to go back to her place but suddenly remembers something and stops "Oh, and don't be a bunch of fuckin' brats. Tara saw and heard the way you treat her, so you better change that too, 'cause if I'm not here, she's in charge" she looks at Cassie, who's starting to blush furiously "She took all your crap and didn't say a word about it to me, nor Tara" then she looks at her staff again "So cut the crap and work together! You're MY staff, and most of you are all damn good at what you do, so don't make me regret hirin' you and start movin' you fuckin' asses 'cause it is MY name that's on the line here! And I don't want any fuckin' assholes in my kitchen!"

The glass door opens and Tara pokes her head inside "Everything ok in here, chef?" she asks frowning and looking at Faith.

"Five by five…" the brunette answers looking at her and then going to finish three plates that Cassie just left on the counter for her.

* * *

"Thank you" Buffy says shaking the hand of a woman who's standing up from the big table on the meeting room "Now, that's what we were talking about. This is the kind of thing we want" the woman says, giving Xander a little look.

"You have nothing to worry about" Buffy says, practically forcing the woman look at her again "We know exactly what you want, and you know we can do it. What happened yesterday was a little mix up, it won't happen again"

"I surely hope so" a balding man in a suit says standing up and grabbing his briefcase from the table.

"You have my word" Buffy says with a fake smile looking at the man, who gives her a little snort in response.

Xander opens the door for them to go out and stands there holding it "I hate that guy…" he says to Buffy once he sees they're all waiting by the elevator door to leave the building "God, me too…" the blonde says. A tall brunette girl with long hair pokes her head in the meeting room and looks at Buffy "Buffy, there's someone on the phone for you" the blonde looks at her "Do you know who it is?"

"Yes" the girl looks at the pad in her hand while Xander excuses himself and leaves the room "Her name's Tara Maclay, she's the owner of this cool new restaurant on 48th and 10th, 'Five by Five'…" she looks at Buffy again and sees that the blonde is frowning a little bit and staring into space. She waits for any kind of reaction, but decides to keep talking after a few long seconds of silence "Have you ever been there? The food's amazing! And the kitchen walls are all soundproofed glass, so you can see everything that's going on in there but you can't hear a thing… it's really cool, with some kind of a 'grunge' vibe going on…" she babbles on and on.

"What…? Oh! No, I haven't been there... yet" Buffy shakes her head clearing her thoughts, and starts to walk out the meeting room "I'll take that call in my office Lauren, thank you"

The brunette girl nods "Line two!" she yells for her boss to hear.

"Thanks!" Buffy yells back before picking up her phone.


	2. Uncomfortably Stupid Around Each Other

**Author's note #1:** The "kitchen situations" may or may not be real (ok, fine, they all are)

* * *

**Chapter 02: Uncomfortably Stupid Around Each Other**

"Tell me again T, why do I have to be involved in this?" it's the end of a long night and the restaurant just closed twenty minutes ago. Faith's in her office taking off her chef jacket, pants and shoes, and starting to change into some dark jeans, black Converse shoes and a white tank top. She lets her hair loose and looks at the blonde standing in the doorway while tying her shoes.

"Because we lost the deal we had when you told Parker Abrams, from 'Abrams & West', to 'go fuck himself' and that he was a 'fucking idiot'…" the blonde says with a half smile. To be honest, she didn't like those guys either.

"Well, he was a fuckin' idiot, so…"

Cassie yells from the lockers "I'm leaving, see you tomorrow guys!"

"Bye kid!" Faith yells for her to hear.

Tara turns around to see the girl "Bye Cassie, have a good night!"

The young girl smiles at her "You too, don't do anything I wouldn't do" and winks. Before Tara can ask, Cassie leaves the room and then the restaurant "Is it just me, or does she think we're dating?" the blonde asks her best friend while she gets out of her office "Well, I'm wicked hot, so you can see why she would think that. Must be hard to be around me all the time without doin' somethin' about it" the brunette says smiling while putting her leather jacket and grabbing the helmet from the couch, and then following the blonde out.

"Oh, shut up Faith. You really suck sometimes"

"Yeah, more often than you'd think, ask around…" she winks at her as they both go out and Tara start closing the door "That's so gross" and before Faith can say anything else she interrupts her "Please, shut up!" after the door is locked she turns around to face her friend "Please, please, PLEASE be there by eleven Faith" the blonde begs and her friend nods her head "Don't worry T, I'll be there… But if they suck, they're gonna hear it"

"I know…" the blonde smiles while opening her car door "You just be there by eleven, that's all I'm asking"

Faith nods "Ok, ok…" she puts her helmet on and starts her motorcycle "See you there!" she yells as they both take off in opposite directions.

* * *

"What the…?" Faith's standing outside a large building with huge glass doors and concrete walls. On those huge glass doors she just read 'Jenkins & Summers'. She holds her helmet with one hand while reading again 'Jenkins & Summers' "…this can't be…"

"I can't believe you're here on time" she hears the familiar voice and turns around to see Tara standing behind her looking all good and serious, like a successful business woman should look.

"Toldcha I'd be here… and you look great, by the way. Very hot" she turns around again and reads the two names for the third time "Hey, T? Do you know these guys?"

Tara goes to stand next to her friend "Thank you… and who are you talking about?" Faith looks at her again "These 'Jenkins & Summers' guys…" she says pointing at the big letters on the glass doors.

"Oh, no. Not in person anyway. I spoke on the phone with both of them, and they're not 'guys', they're 'gals'..." Faith raises one eyebrow "You gotta be fuckin' kidding me…" the blonde looks at her a little confused and Faith shakes her head "C'mon, we're gonna be late" she motions for the blonde to go first and soon follows her inside the building. Tara announces herself and the receptionist smiles right away "Of course, they're waiting for you, 19th floor, someone's gonna meet you at the elevator" she says motioning with her hand to the elevators. Tara smiles and thanks her, and they start walking towards them.

"What is it?" the blonde asks as she presses the button and the elevator doors open. Faith has a little smile on her face and she's really quiet "Nothin'…" they get inside and the brunette pushes the number 19 and then leans against the back wall of the elevator, standing behind her friend. The doors close and they can feel the elevator moving up "C'mon, what is it?" the blonde asks again, but then her face changes and she frowns a little "You slept with her, didn't you? The receptionist?" this caught the brunette completely off guard "What? Who…? No! 'course not!"

Then the number 19 flashes on the screen and the elevator stops moving. The doors open and Tara steps out of it first. She's immediately greeted by a blonde woman "Tara Maclay, right?" the woman asks extending her hand and Tara nods with a smile shakes it "Anya Jenkins" she introduces herself while Faith's stepping out of the elevator. As soon as she sees the brunette Anya's face changes a little "You look very familiar…" she extends her hand to shake Faith's and the brunette takes it "Faith…" The blonde keeps looking at her funny "You really look very familiar, Faith…" Faith shrugs and smiles, not recognizing this woman "Anyway, sorry about that…" Anya apologizes "Please, follow me" she starts walking and before following her, Tara looks at Faith with a questioning look. The brunette shakes her head no. She knows exactly what Tara is asking. Same thing she asked before in the elevator about the receptionist.

They start walking following Anya through the big, luminous, glass paneled 19th floor. Faith looks at the space and smiles. This seems like a really nice place to work. She did the same thing with her kitchen, all glass walls and doors, so you can see everything wherever you are. That's one of the things her customers love about the place. She wishes she could have all these really cool toys, but that would be a little dangerous in a crowded kitchen full of sharp objects.

Then something catches her eye and she stops walking. Well, not 'something', 'someone'. The blonde woman standing talking and pointing at some things on a big TV, inside what looks like a meeting room full of people. "Fuck me…" she mumbles to herself, she can't move, she can't take another step, she can't keep up with this Jenkins chick and Tara. Then, just as if she had heard her, the blonde girl in the meeting room slowly turns her head and looks at her straight in the eye. And she froze. Everyone there's looking at her to keep talking, but she's completely frozen, and so is Faith. The brunette can't help but get a little smile on her face, and the same thing happens with the blonde.

"Uuhhmmmm Buff…?" asks Xander, and this makes her look away from the brunette that's outside the room. She looks at him and leans close to his ear "Please take care of this… And don't screw it up" then she looks to everyone else as Xander stands up and takes her place "Gentleman, I'm sorry, I have to go… Mr. Harris will take it from here" she starts walking out of the room, but stops right outside the door looking at the brunette not really knowing what to do.

"Buffy!" she hears Anya yell her name and snaps out of it "Yeah!" she says back. "This is Tara Maclay, you spoke with her on the phone a few days ago, remember?" Faith hasn't moved yet and can see Buffy look at her friend and shaking her hand "Of course, how are you?" Tara shakes her hand "Good, thank you. It's great to finally meet you" then looks at Faith "I don't really know what's going on with her, but that's Faith, she's my business partner and head chef" she adds.

"Oh, so you're the one who told Parker Abrams to go fuck himself?" Anya asks with amusement. Faith chuckles and nods her head, starting to walk again to them "Good, it was about time someone did that. Good job!" she pats Faith on the back and then says "Faith, this is Buffy Summers"

Faith lets out a little smile and looks at the little blonde that's now standing next to her "I know…" Buffy blushes a little but smiles back "We…" the blonde starts and then pauses looking at Faith's eyes "…we know each other. We met in high school back in Sunnydale" she doesn't know if she should just shake her hand, hug her, or exactly what to do, so she just stands there looking really uncomfortable.

"Faith?" Willow comes out of her office and stops in her tracks when she sees the brunette that's standing next to the blonde girl she have been discretely checking out "Red? No fuckin' way!" Faith chuckles, making Willow laugh. Then the redhead runs to give her a big hug and knocks the helmet out of her hand. It falls to the floor and Buffy picks it up "Still with the 'bike thing'…?" she asks, smiling as Willow lets go of Faith. The brunette nods with a big smile "Yeah, but you should see the one that I have now" then she looks at Tara and then at Willow "Red, this is Tara, my partner"

The redhead smiles and shakes hands with Tara "I'm Willow, not 'Red'…" she says blushing and then looks at Faith again "…partner?"

"As in 'business partner'…" the brunette says chuckling a little bit "We both own the restaurant" both Buffy and Willow let go of the breath they didn't know they've been holding for those few seconds.

"Oh! I know why you look so familiar!" Anya yells, startling everyone, and immediately starts walking to the back of the room and enters Buffy's office "Hey!" the blonde yells as soon as she sees Anya go behind her desk and start opening her drawers. She starts walking fast over there to stop her. All the other three girls follow her immediately "Anya, what are you doing? This is my office, would you please stop that?!" she yells, blushing furiously.

"Wait!" Anya yells back and keeps searching for something "A-Ha!" she exclaims, taking a little stack of papers from the bottom drawer. She starts looking through those papers until she finds what she's been looking for "Here!" she goes back around the desk and hands it to Faith.

The very confused brunette takes the little strip of paper Anya's handing her and looks at it. Immediately her expression lightens and she starts to smile "You kept this?" she asks, looking at Buffy, who's still blushing "Yes…" she looks at Faith in the eye "…of course I kept it"

"I thought… I mean… I didn't…" Faith tries to say something, but obviously she can't "Here…" she gives it back to Buffy and now Willow and Tara can see a little strip of pictures of two very young Buffy and Faith together that's been taken in one of those photo booths the arcades have.

The blonde girl takes it with a smile and then looks at Anya "How did you know I had this?"

Anya shrugs "Because I go through everybody's stuff when I get really bored" she pauses without looking at Willow's scared face "Which I'm starting to get, so should we go somewhere and start talking business or what?"

Faith laughs and looks over at Buffy "I really like her" she says pointing at Anya with her thumb.

The girl in question smiles widely "Thank you! Now, would you join me in Buffy's office? The meeting room is kinda crowded right now" she says and enters the office again. Before she can go and take a seat at her partner's desk Buffy holds her by the arm "Oh, no you don't" she glares at Anya "You go seat over there, this is MY office". Willow laughs a little "Ok, this is not my thing, so I'm gonna go… if there's anything you need, just let me know" she says first looking at the girls and then at Buffy by the last part of her sentence. She goes out of Buffy's office and right into hers, sits at her desk and start typing again, while looking into the other room through the glass walls every once in a while.

Once they're all seated Buffy puts on a pair of black rimmed glasses that were resting over her desk and gets all business serious and starts to talk "Ok, now…" she takes a folder from the top of her desk and hands it to Tara and Faith who are sitting on the chairs in front of her "These are some of the things we have for you. Look at it, take your time, and tell us what you think"

Tara smiles and starts looking at the folder that Buffy gave her, but Faith's still looking at the blonde behind the desk with a little smile on her face and a 'thousand-thoughts-a-second' little frown. Buffy doesn't seem to notice it and keeps going through some more papers "So… what's going on here?" asks Anya, looking at Faith from the couch.

This seems to have startled the brunette a little bit "Huh?"

"Yeah, very smooth…" Anya says looking at her while winking and giving her two thumbs up "What's the story here? Why are you so uncomfortably stupid around each other?" Buffy then looks at the way she's teasing Faith and decides to interrupt "Is there anything you need here Anya? 'Cause I think I got it covered…" she says, trying to get her out of the office.

"Fine! You go get this 'covered'…" Anya says making air quotes. She stands up from the couch and then talks to her two new clients "If there's anything you need, just let me know, my number's in here" she gives them both her business card and then leaves the room stomping like a little child. Buffy can see her go into her own office and then breathes again "Is there anything you have in mind that we should know?" she asks.

"Since when do you wear glasses?" asks Faith still smiling. Buffy starts blushing again immediately "A few years ago, guess I'm getting older" she says.

"Well, they look good on you…"

Tara takes her eyes away from the folder and start looking first at Faith, and then at Buffy with a raised eyebrow. She frowns, then smiles and finally shakes her head before looking again at the papers and answering Buffy's previous question "Not exactly, but Faith seems to know what she DOESN'T want…" she pauses "…and now Parker Abrams knows that as well" Buffy tries to hide a smile and shakes her head "Ok, that's a start. How's that coming so far?" she says pointing at the folder.

"I love all this ideas actually" Tara says handing the folder to her partner, who takes it and start going through the pages.

"Well, we can offer you what we think would work best to get your business out there" she says looking at Tara "But you'll have complete control over everything we do… Both of you. And if there's anything you don't like or you feel uncomfortable with, say the word and we'll change it" then she remembers something "Oh! And if Xander says something stupid, feel free to ignore him and come straight to me. I don't know what's wrong with him lately…"

"Xander? As in… Well, Xander?" Faith asks smiling.

Buffy nods at the same time they hear some kind of masculine voice from the door "Buff, sorry to interrupt, I'm done there. If there's anything you need with this new account-" he looks at the brunette as she turns around to see him "Faith?"

The girl stands up "Wow! You're fucking old, dude!" she says laughing. Then notices the ring that's on his left hand "And married?! Wow!"

The guy lets out a big goofy grin and steps inside to wrap her in a big hug "Wish I could say the same about you, but you aged well. And yeah, Anya and I got hitched" she returns his hug immediately "Congrats man, she seems pretty cool"

"Xand-man this is Tara Maclay, my business partner" she says when they break apart, making a little emphasis on the word 'business'. Xander shakes the girl's hand with a big smile "It's nice to meet you, Tara. I'm Xander" he goes to stand next to Buffy and leans against the wall "Should have figured out you had something to do with this restaurant called 'Five by Five'!" he laughs "Owners?"

Faith nods her head and Tara adds "Faith's also head chef"

"No way!" he says looking at the brunette "You're a chef?!" this makes Faith laugh and she nods her head "Little Faithy's a chef, how cool is that?" he asks, looking at Buffy, who's grinning now.

"Oh, shut up!" the brunette says blushing to Buffy's and Tara's amusement "And don't call me that ever again! Thought that was clear…" the guy smiles and goes to hug her again "It's been a long time, I may have forgotten about that!" she punches him lightly on the shoulder "You suck, dude!"

Buffy decides to interrupt before this whole situation goes out of hand and presses a button on her desk phone "Will, I need you here for a second"

"Be right there…" they hear through the phone, and can see the redhead press something on her computer keyboard and start walking out of her office "Yes?" she says leaning against the door frame "I know you have lots of programmers and designers for this, but I was wondering if maybe you'd like to handle this particular account by yourself…?" Buffy asks smiling at her best friend.

The redhead smiles in return "Of course, I wouldn't let anyone else do it" she looks over at Faith and Tara, who are both looking at her and smiling. Each one of them for very different reasons. She goes to stand on Buffy's other side, the one that has 'no Xander' over it, and leans on the side of the blonde's desk "I'll handle all your 'media' needs. Anything tech related, you come to me"

"Even for some of those cool toys?" Faith asks a little excited and Tara and Willow roll their eyes at the same time "No. If you want those, you have to ask Xander" the redhead says after a big sigh. Xander grins and mouths the words 'I'll get you some' when Faith looks at him and she gives him a thumbs up "I'm talking about website, social networks, online advertising, that kind of stuff. Do you have something?" The redhead starts asking and Buffy leans back a little bit on her chair giving her some space.

"We were starting with some of those things, but I guess everyone here knows what happened with 'Abrams & West'…" Tara explains and Willow nods.

"That was you?!" Xander ask looking at the brunette, who nods with a big grin "Dude!" he high-five's her "Everybody in the ad world heard about that! That guy's an asshole!"

Faith laughs and looks at Tara "See? I got it right!"

"Xander, choose your words, please? You're working…" Buffy glares at her friend and Xander apologizes to Tara immediately "I'm very sorry"

"There's no need to be" the blonde girl smiles sweetly at him.

"Ok, so here's the thing" Faith interrupts "No one here's gonna start working before knowing exactly what you're advertising. We'll wait for the three of you and Anya at the restaurant by nine. Table for four is ok? Are there any husbands, boyfriends or something we should add…?" Faith asks looking at Buffy straight in the eye with a little frown.

Buffy raises one eyebrow and then smiles at her "Just the four of us"

* * *

Xander pays the cab driver and gets out of it. He goes over and opens the back door for his wife and friends. She takes his hand and gets off the cab, followed by Willow and then Buffy "Thank you, baby" Anya says and gives him a little kiss on the lips. "Shall we, ladies?" he says and motions for the three girls to walk towards the entrance of the restaurant.

There's some people waiting outside but as soon as they get to the door they see Tara there, who immediately smiles at them and opens the door "Welcome" she says with a shy smile, and after exchanging some words she leads them to their table. As they walk through the restaurant they can see that it's full, even the bar, that's by the right wall, is full of people waiting for their tables and keeping the 'girl-bartender' very busy. There's only one free table left by the back wall, which they don't know, but it's actually Faith's favorite table. Buffy looks to her left while she walks and can see the huge glass paneled kitchen, and when she does, she sees Faith talking with a girl standing next to her. But then the brunette moves her head and looks straight into her eyes with a sweet smile. Buffy returns the gesture, but it doesn't last long because a young man in the kitchen goes to stand beside Faith and leaves two plates in the counter for her to finish.

They arrive at their table and Xander sits beside his wife with his back to the kitchen, leaving Buffy and Willow side by side, with a great view of the entire place.

"Hello, my name is Chloe and I'll be your waitress tonight" a young brunette girl says standing by their table with a big smile.

* * *

"Ok guys, if you're planning on screwing up, today's not a good day!" Faith yells in the kitchen as soon as she sees the group of four walk through the door. She looks a little nervous and Cassie smiles when she looks at her "What's going on, chef?" she asks. She has never seen her centered and confident boss get nervous before.

Faith looks at her for a second "The guys from our new ad agency are here" and nods with her head toward the group walking through the room. Cassie lifts her gaze and sees Tara walking, followed by a guy and three girls, all very well dressed. The last girl, the blonde one, is looking straight at Faith. And then she notices that Faith is looking back at her with a smile.

"Chef, here's what you asked for…" A young short man, with the name 'Jonathan Levinson' embroidered on his chef jacket, stands next to Faith and places two plates before her. She briefly looks at him with a smile "Thank you, chef" she finishes both plates and goes to leave them at the counter for the waitress to pick up.

Cassie's smiling widely when Faith comes back to her side "So… What's the story here?" she asks.

Faith clears her throat and frowns at her "I'm sorry chef, what did you just said?" Cassie rolls her eyes at her and repeats "What's the story here, chef?" she asks, emphasizing the last word.

"That's better" Faith chuckles "Long story, not the right time. You're gonna slice your finger, chef. Don't get distracted" she says looking at what Cassie's doing. The girl nods shortly and looks back at her hands "Yes chef" she says "And by the way, that blonde girl…?" she trails off waiting for Faith to look in the direction she's pointing with her head "Is totally checking you out… chef"

* * *

The waitress comes back to their table, right after taking their orders, with a bottle of wine and a tray with two plates on it "Amuse bouche, from the chef" she says placing the plates on the table "Along with the wine" she starts pouring it in one of glasses and offers it for someone to try. Anya's the one to take it right away, and nods her head with a smile after trying it "She says that if any of you doesn't drink, to let me know and she'll send something else" she adds while filling all other glasses. Willow smiles at her "Thank you Chloe. And tell the chef the wine's perfect, right guys?" she asks, looking at her friends. Xander and Anya both nod their heads and smile, but Buffy doesn't react at all "Is she ok?" Chloe asks Willow in a low voice and the redhead chuckles a little when she sees her friend frowning and still staring at the kitchen "I guess…" Chloe smiles again "Ok, if there's anything you need, just let me know" and with that she leaves their table.

"Buffy, are you ok?" Willow asks taking a sip of her glass of wine. No response. "Buffy?" she slightly nudges her with her elbow "Yeah… wait, what?" the blonde asks and all other three start laughing "Are you ok? You zoned out a little…" the redhead repeats.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine" Buffy smiles at them and then takes a sip of wine while Xander takes one of the little pieces of food that are on the table and puts it in his mouth "Ohmyrgorrd, this'smazing" he says with his mouth full of food "You are disgusting, Xander!" Buffy says looking at him.

Xander shrugs, swallows his food and then looks at his friends and wife "You have to try this" all three of them do at the same time "This is so good!" Anya says after swallowing her food and taking another piece right away.

* * *

Cassie's by the counter cleaning delicately the rim of a plate that's about to go out the kitchen. Faith's by her side finishing three more plates that are supposed to go out with the one her sous-chef just finished. They're both working in complete silence, but can hear the rest of the staff chatting and laughing while working behind them. The brunette hands her the plates without saying a single word and Cassie takes all four of them to the counter for pick up.

As soon as she sees Chloe placing the plates on the table for her four guests, she looks at the blonde that's sitting facing her way and sees her looking back at her and give her a little 'thank you' kind of nod with a little smile. She returns both, the smile and the nod, and then turns around to look at a lot of tickets that are placed over the counter side by side "Amanda, how's that coming?" she yells over the noise to a young girl that's standing over a stove "Working! One minute, chef!" the girl yells back.

"Jonathan, I really need that chicken now, chef!" the brunette says looking now at the short man. He nods as he takes it out of the oven "Hot behind!" he says loudly as he passes behind her and Cassie "Dish's hot, chef. Also, we got a count of 6 on lamb" he says looking at his boss. She nods and takes the plate with her bare hand not even flinching "Spread the word about the lamb" she tells him, and he nods his head before walking away. She turns to look at Cassie "Let them at the front know we're 86 on lamb. I already have 6 tickets here, so that's it" her sous-chef nods her head "Heard, chef" and goes to do what Faith just asked her.

"Guys we're in the shit!" she shouts while looking again at all the tickets and the back at her staff "Jonathan, Shannon! You gotta dance better than that tonight! Otherwise you're gonna get seriously hurt!"

"Heard Chef!" both say at the same time before looking and nodding at each other. The brunette smiles pleased with them, but then she notices something by the far side of the kitchen, and hands a plate to Cassie "Please, take care of this, chef…" The young girl nods and takes it while Faith starts walking to the far end of the kitchen where Ben's goofing around with a pan over the stove and laughing after taking his 'bandana-type' hat off.

"Put that back on!" she points to his hat "And what the fuck do ya think you're doing?! I just told ya we're in the shit! You're gonna set yourself or someone else on fire!" just as if it was magic, the guy's jacket sleeve caught on fire and he starts panicking "Oh my god! OH MY GOD!" he starts screaming not knowing what to do and violently shakes his arm knocking two knifes to the floor "Fuckin' asshole!" Faith screams frustrated, while moving her left foot so it doesn't get stabbed by one of the falling knifes. She grabs a big kitchen rag that's resting over a counter nearby, wrapping the flaming sleeve with it and extinguishing the flames in a second "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY KITCHEN!" she yells at him while pointing at the door "Take all your fuckin' shit with ya! You're not coming back here!" she adds, before going to stand at the counter that's facing the room with the tables while trying to calm herself. The guy takes all his knives, the hat he had taken off, and exits the kitchen right away without saying a word. The brunette starts searching the front looking for Tara, and finds her standing by their guests table looking at her. She must've been talking to them, but she sure heard through her ear piece everything that just happened. Faith notices that all four at the table are looking at her too with frowns of concern on their faces. She shakes her head trying to clear her mind and gestures for her partner to come to the kitchen without saying anything.

"Excuse me…" Tara says, looking at the four of them with a little smile, and then goes back to the door that leads to the kitchen. She opens the glass door and Faith is waiting for her right there on the other side so she doesn't have to go in. They look at each other straight in the eye, and even knowing what she's gonna hear, Tara lets the brunette speak so she can let it out "I want that little fucker out of my kitchen for good" the brunette says very pissed off but in a low voice "He's a fuckin' hazard for everyone here" she points behind her with her thumb, were her staff is still working "I gave him plenty of chances, this was it. He's not putting one foot inside my kitchen again. Can you take care of that?" the blonde nods shortly "Of course chef, don't worry" she gives her best friend a little smile and the brunette is visibly starting to relax a little "…and we're 86 on lamb. Thank you, T"

"You're welcome, chef…" she starts to leave, but then comes back for just a second "Oh, and you gave quite a show with that 'putting out the fire' thing. Have to admit, it was kinda hot…" she winks making the brunette laugh, then closes the door again and leaves.


	3. Hot Blondes Should Never Pay

**Author's note #1:** For those who asked about it, here's a little background from good ol' Sunnydale.

**Author's note #2: **Thank you guys for reviewing! It's really appreciated and helps to keep things running.

* * *

**Chapter 03: Hot Blondes Should Never Pay**

It's almost two a.m. and the only occupied table is the one where Xander, Anya, Willow and Buffy are sitting having some coffee. The kitchen is almost empty too. Cassie finishes packing her knives and looks at Faith "You can go, chef" the brunette dismisses her with a smile while packing her own knives. Cassie nods and puts the strap of her knife bag over her shoulder "I'll go get changed then" she says, and turns around to leave the kitchen. As she does, she notices that the blonde girl on the table is looking at Faith again and smiles "I think you have an admirer, chef" she laughs a little and leaves the kitchen.

"Huh?" the brunette asks, but before she registers anything, her sous-chef is out of the kitchen and in the locker room. Then she looks through the glass and sees Buffy staring at her again, which brings a little smile to her face. She folds and grabs her knife bag, and opens the kitchen door to go get changed, just when Tara comes out of the staff door with some papers in her hands and Ben following her. The man glares at her as he passes by and she stops right outside the door taking off her hat in one quick angry motion "Don't look at me like that, I have no problem kickin' your fuckin' ass right outside, Katniss!"

"FAITH!" Tara turns around looking at her friend in disbelief and shaking her head.

"Whatever… Fuckin' moron…" the brunette sighs pissed off and goes through the staff door slamming it open. Xander is trying really hard not to laugh and Tara smiles at him when she notices that, while opening the door for Ben to leave the restaurant "Ouch! Willow!" he screams all of a sudden "Why would you kick me like that?!" the redhead clenches her jaw and shakes her head "A guy just lost his job tonight, you shouldn't laugh!" she says in a low voice.

"I wasn't laughing-" he looks over at Tara, who now's behind the bar looking for something but still smiling at them.

"Yes, you were" Anya interrupts him "Although, Willow, it's nice to know that we're not going to advertise a place where fire hazards are running around with very sharp knives…" she says "…that has 'disaster' written all over it" Buffy has to smile at this "Anya actually has a point"

"Of course I do" she smiles "I'm a pretty smart business woman" she adds, before finishing her coffee.

"Does anyone of you want a drink?" Tara asks still standing at the bar while placing two bottles of beer over the top. The three girls shake their heads no "I'd have one of those…" Xander says pointing at the bottles. Tara nods at him and takes another one out. She takes the cap off and goes to the table and hands it to him. Then she sits facing them on top of the table that's next to theirs, with two bottles of beer in her hands.

Right then the staff door opens and Cassie comes out laughing at something, now with her blonde and pink hair a little wet in a ponytail, dressed in blue jeans, red Converse shoes and a red t-shirt, with her white leather knife bag hanging over her left shoulder. Faith comes out right after her, also laughing, with her long hair now loose and wet as if she just showered, dressed in black jeans, black leather boots and white tank top, with her own knife bag strapped across her chest and through her back, and a large white bandage at her left wrist. The blonde young girl stops by their table and looks at the group smiling "I didn't have the chance to introduce myself. I'm Cassie Newton, chef Faith's sous-chef" she says, and then shakes their hands one by one, starting with Anya and ending with Buffy, who's giving her a weird look and a fake smile that no one seems to notice. Each one of them introduces themselves in time.

"What's a 'soup chef'? You're in charge of the soups?" Anya asks frowning, making everybody laugh. Then Faith comes closer and sits on the table next to Tara, resting her feet on a chair "Sous-chef" she says smiling and taking the beer her friend's handing her "She comes right after me" she sees Buffy's surprised face and almost spits the beer she just sipped "Ok, that didn't came out right" she pauses while Tara and Cassie try not to laugh "She's my 'second-in-command'. She's able to run the entire kitchen and staff either if I'm busy, not here, or lazy"

"It usually is the last one" Cassie adds, smiling at her boss "Ok, I'm gonna go. It was very nice meeting you all, I really hope to see you here again soon and that you had a good first experience" she nods at the group at the table "Good night" she waves at them and then at her two bosses "Good night Tara, chef…"

"Good night, Cassie" the blonde says back.

"I toldcha it's 'Faith' outta the kitchen, kid…" Faith says "…or 'Hot Stuff'… that works for me too"

Cassie laughs "I'm gonna go with 'Faith', if that's ok with you… so, good night, Faith"

"Night, mama" the brunette says laughing before taking another sip of her beer.

Buffy starts looking a little uncomfortable and Willow notices it, so she leans in and whispers so only her friend can hear her while the others start chatting loudly "What's the matter?" this makes the blonde look at her and shake her head "C'mon… what's going on? I know you Buffy, something's bothering you…" the redhead insists and Buffy sighs "Do you think there's something going on between them?" she asks her best friend looking a little concerned.

"Who are you talking about?" now Willow's lost and Buffy rolls her eyes at her "Faith and Cassie"

The redhead frowns "I don't think so-" but the blonde interrupts her "They were all smiley and eyeing each other all night over there in that stupid kitchen"

"It didn't seemed like that to me, I just think they are just good co-workers. Besides, I don't remember Faith being gay…" Willow trails off and then gets a little confused "And neither are you. I think. Why is this bothering you?" Buffy shakes her head and looks away when she hears Tara say "What happened to your wrist?" pointing at the brunette's bandage and finishing her beer.

"Got a nasty burn trying to put him out when stupid Katniss caught on fire" All of them wince at the same time and then Willow starts laughing "Katniss…" she says as an explanation "…the girl on fire?" she adds when she see everybody's confused faces. The only ones smiling are Faith and Tara "Oh, c'mon guys! Read a book every once in a while! You haven't even heard…?" she gets frustrated "Whatever, you guys suck" everybody start laughing.

"So? How was it?" Faith asks just so Willow doesn't get pissed off.

"Faith, everything was amazing!" the redhead takes the opportunity to change the subject and is the first to talk "We definitely have a deal" Anya adds grinning.

"Yeah!" a half-drunk Xander says holding up his beer, making Faith and Tara laugh.

"B?" the brunette asks looking at the unusually quiet frowning blonde. Buffy looks at her and her expression softens a little "I loved it, Faith. Everything was just perfect" she pauses and frowns again for a second "Tara here refuses to charge us, though" she says looking between the owners and pointing to her credit card that's still lying on the table "Well, that means I have nothing left to teach her…" Faith smiles widely and gives her friend a little pat on the thigh "Hot blondes should never pay…" she looks at Buffy and winks.

"Hey! What about me?"

"My bad, hot redheads should never pay either!" Faith chuckles.

"Damn straight" mumbles Tara to herself.

"Heard that…" Faith says in a low voice, looking at her best friend, who just blushes and smiles at her "…and there's nothing 'straight' about that"

"Ok, Xander's a little drunk, so I think we should get going. Maybe I can score some drunken sex, that's always fun…" Anya stands up from the table "Come on honey, let's go home…" she adds looking at her husband. Willow and Buffy stand up to leave too.

"Do you guys want a ride?" Tara asks, looking at them.

"Nah, we'll just take a cab, thank you" Anya answers.

"Absolutely not" Faith jumps in "T, I'm with the bike tonight, can you take them and Red home?" she asks looking at her friend, who immediately nods "I can take B home, if she doesn't mind…?" she adds looking at the blonde who gives one raised eyebrow in return.

"She doesn't mind…" Buffy answers with a smile, now softening and staring into Faith's eyes. The brunette grins and they stare at each other for a few seconds, until Tara clears her throat loudly "Ok, then!" Faith breaks eye contact and clears her throat, too "Anya, Xand-Man and Red, you go with T here…" They all start walking to the door "…B, you're stuck with me" then she remembers something "Be right back!" she runs to the back and a few seconds later comes back holding her helmet "Ok, now we can go" they all exchange good nights and soon Tara's starting her car, with Willow sitting next to her and Xander and Anya sitting both in the back seat.

Faith throws the helmet for Buffy to catch "You put that on" and she starts locking the doors.

"What about you?" the blonde asks a little concerned.

Faith reaches for something in her back pocket, takes it out and the uses it to put her hair into a high ponytail. The kind of ponytail she uses to keep her long hair into her chef hat "That's for you. It's the only one I've got here. Didn't thought I'd be lucky enough to get you home when I left my place today" she winks at the blonde making her blush "…this is for me, to get my hair out of my eyes and yours" she says, pointing at her ponytail and getting a sweet smile from Buffy. Both of them start walking to the parked Ninja motorcycle "This is your ride now?" the blonde ask with her eyes wide open.

"Yeah, whaddaya think?"

"Big improvement"

Faith laughs "I'd say! Although, it wasn't easy to let my old high school bike go"

"That thing was a death trap, I'm glad you did!" the blonde says laughing.

"Yeah, it was…" the brunette admits "So, where am I taking you?"

"Upper west side, 83rd and Amsterdam" the blonde answers before putting on the black helmet.

Faith nods with a smile, then gets on the motorcycle and starts it. Buffy climbs right behind her "Hold on tight, B" the blonde hugs the other girl tightly from behind, pressing her chest against Faith's back, and both of them immediately smile, even if the other one can't see it.

* * *

"What the fuck…?" Faith opens her eyes to the morning light coming through her bedroom window and closes them again. Then she hears what just woke her up at… she looks at her night stand… eight-thirty a.m. on a Saturday, the doorbell and an insisting banging on her front door. She gets up from the bed, out of her bedroom, and starts walking to the front door "Whoever's out there, ya better be dyin' or somethin'! Hold your fuckin' horses!" she yells as she reaches the door, and before opening it she can hear her best friend's laughter. She opens the door to find the blonde standing there with two large coffees and a brown paper bag in her hands "You suck so much. I hate you" the brunette says rubbing her eyes and stepping away from the door. Tara steps inside and closes the door behind her while Faith sits groaning on the couch and puts her bare feet over the coffee table.

"No, you love me. So, what's the deal with you and Buffy?" the blonde asks right away, handing Faith one of the coffees and the paper bag, before moving to the windows to open the drapes and let the morning light in.

"Thanks…" the brunette looks at her and takes a sip of her coffee "I don't know what you're talking about"

"Yeah, right…" Tara sits next to her friend and start drinking her coffee too "C'mon… You could cut the tension with a knife. And you completely freaked out at the agency when you saw her"

Faith shifts a little on the couch and then looks at her best friend "…was it that obvious?"

Tara nods with a half smile on her face "So, what's the deal?"

The brunette takes a long sip of her coffee and sighs "It was a long time ago…" she looks at her friend in the eye for a second and keeps talking "We both went to Sunnydale High" she takes another sip and opens the bag to take the cookie out and takes a bite "I think I wouldn't have met her, if it wasn't for the fact that I hated school and was really lazy" she looks at Tara again "This was before they've found out what the real deal was with me, so they said I needed some tutoring" she sees her friend nod in understanding and then pauses for a few seconds as if remembering "They had Red tutor me, I've always hated math, remember college?"

Tara nods smiling, so Faith keeps talking "Well, Red was, and still is, B's best friend, so when she tutored me, Xander and some other kids in the school library, B was always around" she smiles "Ya know I've always been a sucker for hot blondes" this makes the blonde laugh so Faith laughs with her "Well, we hit it off immediately. I was charming and funny, as always…" she winks at her friend who just shakes her head "…and we had so much fun just hanging out, even when it was the four of us and not just me and her…" she takes another bite off her cookie "I was fifteen or sixteen, haven't realized I was gay yet, but I knew that I liked her. A lot. One night all four of us went out to this place called the 'Bronze' and Red got a little wasted. She was feeling rebellious for some reason I never knew and had a couple of illegally-sold-to-her drinks, so Xander had to take her home. That left B and me alone…" she blushed a little bit and Tara smiled, that's something she didn't had the chance to see every day "…we used to live a few blocks away from each other, so we walked home together. When we arrived at her place her mom was waitin' for her on the living room, and when she saw me there, invited me to spend the night. She knew I was home alone because my aunt had travelled for work to some gallery on LA for the weekend, and she has always been super nice and motherly with me. Guess she liked me, and I liked her a lot too. She was a very nice and sweet woman. I think she still is, B told me last night she moved here too a few years ago" she shakes her head a little to get back on track "Anyway… I said I'd stay when I saw B get so excited about the idea. I didn't know what the fuck was goin' on in my head, and I was nervous as hell. And I guess B was too, 'cause once we were alone in her bedroom ready to sleep she got really quiet. Which she NEVER was"

She starts scratching a little at the bandage over her left wrist and Tara puts her hand on top of hers to stop her from doing that "You're gonna hurt yourself" she says with a little smile.

Faith nods smiling and stops "Anyway… Neither of us could sleep, so we were both awake and silent for, like, an hour before I heard her call my name. She didn't turn on her lamp or anythin'. She just sat on her bed and started talkin' to me in the darkness. Guess it made it easier for her to let it out that way. I listened in complete silence as she told me that she liked me, not just as a friend, she was attracted to me. She used that word. I'll never forget that" she starts smiling without even realizing she's doing it "She told me at first she had no idea what was goin' on with her, but then she realized that she liked me. Simple as that. And that she had liked me for a while, but never knew what to do, or if she should actually talk to me about it, but she couldn't take it anymore and had to let it out"

Faith looks at her friend, and Tara notices that she has her eyes full of tears, so she scoots closer to her and puts her arm around her best friend's shoulders "Thanks…" the brunette says, resting her head on Tara's shoulder "Then she stopped talkin' all of a sudden, and I could hear her breathin', she was hyperventilating. So I got my shit together, got up from my bed in the darkness without sayin' a word, kneeled in front of her and kissed her. I kissed the hell outta her. Told her that I liked her too, and that I didn't say anythin' before because I was afraid. She kissed me back. We spent all night cuddlin' on her bed and kissin'. Didn't have any sleep at all. All we did was kiss. And I still remember that night as one of the best ones I've ever had" Faith lets out a long sigh and finishes her coffee, putting the empty cup back on the table.

Tara looks at her, not saying anything, waiting for her friend to keep talking "We decided not to tell anyone about it, high school kids can make your life a living hell, but we were kinda dating in secret, ya know? She'd come to my place, I'd go to hers, we'd go out with the guys, and we did used to have a lot of sleepovers" she chuckles a little making the blonde laugh too "But… Eventually we both were gonna go to college. She got accepted right away, I don't remember where, but it was the one she wanted to get into" she says with a big proud smile "I was, and still am, so proud of her…" Faith sighs again and keeps talking, always with a sweet smile "The night after graduation we had a sleepover at her place. Just the two of us. She got really sad and started cryin'. So, obviously I started cryin' too. I couldn't stand to see her cry like that, it was heartbreaking… And I figured that it was a 'now or never' kinda moment, and told her that I loved her. And to my surprise she kissed me really hard and told me that she loved me too, and that was why she was cryin'. She didn't want to be away from me…" she pauses and sighs "That night was my first time. And hers too. We were both eighteen by then and had been dating for more than two years" a little tear falls from her left eye and she catches it with her hand right away and sniffles before getting a little smile on her face "Yeah, she made me wait two fuckin' years, can you believe that shit? Anyway, it was amazing. She was extremely sweet, lovin' and tender. And according to her, I was too…" the brunette says with a little chuckle "A few months later we went away to college. She didn't wanna go, she said we could stay and go to UC Sunnydale, but I couldn't take that away from her. I knew she'd have a great future ahead of her, so I convinced her that goin' away was for the best, she needed to do it. And for once in her life, she listened to me" she dries a few more tears from the corner of her eyes "And that was it… We kinda broke up because long distance never works for anyone, but kept in touch for a long time, we were also best friends and neither of us wanted to lose that too. We were together every time we came back to Sunnydale, Thanksgiving, Christmas and stuff, ya know? But after a little over year or so, everything became a lot more complicated, and we started to drift apart. By the time you and I became best friends I barely spoke with her anymore, but I convinced myself that it was for the best and that it meant that I was finally over her…" she trails off trying to compose herself and look all cool again.

"And were you?" The blonde asks shifting on the couch to look at her.

Faith looks at here in the eye, knowing that she could never lie to the blonde without getting caught "Until yesterday, I thought I was…"

* * *

"Wow…"

"Will, you can't tell anybody about this"

"…wow"

"Are you with me? Willow, you can't tell anybody about this, not even Xander!"

"How come I never knew you guys were dating?" the redhead scratches her head "I mean, there must've been signs, right?"

Buffy laughs "Believe me, there were. But luckily for us, you guys never noticed them"

"So… this means you're… gay?"

"Well… Kinda… I don't know actually…" Buffy frowns but then remembers something "You are, though, remember? Why are you acting surprised all of a sudden?"

"You have to admit that this is A LOT of information to take in! And it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm gay… Or she is… Or you might be…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Buffy smiles "I guess it means I'm gay as long as she's concerned… Can that be some kind of category? I don't really want to think about anyone else right now…"

Willow smiles "Yeah, let's go with that one!" but then she notices something her friend just said "Wait! So, you're, um, STILL gay for her?" she asks with a big smile.

Buffy blushes and sighs "When we drifted apart I thought I was getting over her, that this whole thing was something from the past… I thought I'd never see her again…" she says frowning.

"And now that you've seen her again?"

Buffy turns her head and looks smiling at the black motorcycle helmet that's resting on her dining table "Now I know for sure I NEVER got over her"


	4. A Little Less Macho-Friendly

**Author's note #1:** The song used while playing Rock Band 3 ™ is called "My Heart" and it belongs to Paramore.

* * *

**Chapter 04: A Little Less Macho-Friendly**

"Xander, can you please stop goofing around?" Buffy asks her friend putting her hands on her waist and then looks at Anya "Please, do something about him"

"What am I supposed to do? He is your employee, not mine" Anya shrugs "Fire him. I don't care" then she looks at her husband "If she fires you, I'm not giving you ANY of my money, just so you know…"

They're at 'Five by Five'. Tonight's some kind of party for their ad campaign. It's been everywhere for the last month and a lot of people are coming in less than half an hour. Important people that Anya took care of inviting one by one. They're all impeccably dressed. There's a red carpet outside for the guests, so that means there's paparazzi there too waiting for everybody to arrive. And Xander's at the bar standing alongside the 'hired for the day' bartender, trying to learn how to mix some cocktail by flipping bottles in the air and laughing.

Buffy sighs "I'm not gonna fire him… yet. Xander!"

The man looks at his boss "What?"

"Stop acting like a child. Just because one of the owners is like your best buddy or whatever, doesn't mean you can act like this. This is serious, not some dinner party at your friend's house. There are lots of people coming over, and I shouldn't have to remind you this, but: you're working! This is work. You're getting paid for this, remember? Get out of there and act like you're supposed to!"

Xander goes back around the bar "Sorry…" then he sits on a stool "…got bored. Faith isn't even here yet. How come she can be late?" Tara's there already, looking at them with a smile on her face. Willow's standing with her and they've been talking for a while until Xander started throwing bottles in the air.

"She's paying us, Xander. With money. Don't be stupid. She can do whatever she wants. If she asks me if she can punch you in the face, I'll let her do it in the blink of an eye" Anya explains not even looking at him.

Buffy looks at Xander with an 'I told you so' kind of look "We're working FOR Faith and Tara. Not the other way around. Keep that in mind…" she adds.

"Yeah, keep that in mind, 'cause apparently I can punch ya right in the nose if I wanna" they hear Faith's voice from behind. They all turn around to look at the brunette who's standing by the staff door with her arms folded across her chest and a cocky smile on her face.

"No, you can't! That would be assault, sister!" Xander says with a smile.

"Been there, done that" Faith says laughing.

"She'll get away with it, Xander… We all want to punch you sometimes…" his wife says looking at the brunette first, and then back at her Blackberry without looking at her husband.

"You're late" Tara says with a little smile.

"Bite me" Faith says looking at her best friend "Would've been here sooner, but it's really hard to drive in this when ya're not used to it" she says pointing at her long dress "I gave up and took a cab" They all laugh a little and go back to what they were doing. All of them but Buffy, who can't keep her eyes away from Faith "You ok, B?" Faith asks with a smile.

"Yeah… It's just that… That dress…"

"So? What do ya think?" the brunette asks with a cocky grin. She's wearing a long black strapless dress with matching black pumps. Her long hair is slightly pulled up in all the right places and her makeup is just perfect.

"You look amazing" the blonde says seriously looking at her straight in the eyes.

Faith grins "Thanks… and you too, B" she looks at the blonde up and down "Never been a fan of white dresses, but you've already changed my mind. And I've always loved your hair like that…" she adds, now with a sweet smile.

"Ok, now that we ALL exchanged pleasantries…" Anya says sarcastically while standing up "…and by the way, thank you for saying how good I look too, Faith… We need to open the doors and get this started. Willow, can you go tell the DJ he can start?"

The redhead nods her head and walks to where de DJ is standing finishing setting everything up. Anya walks to the door and Tara helps her get them open. As soon as they do that some flashes start going off towards them "Save them for later!" Anya shouts to the paparazzi out there and quickly goes back inside with Tara.

"Faith, you're not supposed to be working the kitchen tonight, so let them take care of everything, that's why we hired them. You've already done all the cooking…" Buffy says while walking to the bar and asking the bartender for something. The man nods his head and immediately starts mixing some drinks.

"B, ya know I'm a control freak… I don't know if I can do that" Faith says looking at her kitchen and starting to get nervous.

Buffy smiles and hands her a martini glass the bartender just gave her "Well, you'll have to… At least for tonight. I need you out here. And be nice, please?" she asks looking at the brunette "I know some people are going to be very annoying, but you'll have to get through this as smoothly as you can, ok? Play nice"

Faith drinks all of her glass in one quick motion "Fine" she groans and hands the empty glass back to Buffy "Thank you"

An hour later the place is packed with people eating, drinking and chatting loudly. Buffy's taking a break from talking with some of them, and goes to the bar. She orders something and sits on a stool scanning the place while she waits for her drink.

"Have you seen the owners?" she can hear a male voice talking next to her "Oh, yeah… I'll be here at least once a week" another man says laughing loudly.

She briefly looks at them and then follows their gaze in the direction they're looking, just in time to spot Tara and Faith talking with two women.

"The brunette in that black dress… She's the chef, right?" the first man asks his friend while the bartender places Buffy's drink over the bar "Thank you" she thanks him with a forced smile and takes a sip.

"Yes. That chick Anya from the ad agency introduced me to her. Hot, right?"

"I would so bend her over one of those kitchen counters" the other man says and they both laugh and sip on their beers while still looking at them. Buffy clenches her jaw and takes a deep breath.

"I'd go for the blonde… She looks kinda shy, must be crazy good in bed. Shy ones always are"

"You think? The chef looks kinda wild, you know? Like a bad girl, with her tattoo, black nails and everything… You just know she likes it rough" he takes another sip "…I bet she have some other tattoos we can't see right now. Or maybe a piercing!" he elbows his friend and they laugh again "Man, you have to admit, not every day you get to have that kind of woman cooking for you… I'd kill for her to cook me breakfast at my place…" his friend chuckles a little "Well, I have no problem with the blonde one managing any of my business, you know?"

And that's it. That's all Buffy can take. She turns around with a fake smile "Hi, gentlemen. I'm Buffy Summers, 'that chick Anya from the ad agency' business partner" they attempt to shake her hand, but she doesn't move "…and I have to tell you, we're so flattered you have all those nice thoughts about our clients" she fakes a smile and both men gulp loudly. Then she gets a little closer to them and speaks in a low voice "Both of you get the fuck out of here before I make security escort you out. I'm sure that would look great on the pictures all the paps are gonna take" she stands up straight again "…and I'm sure your wives and kids are gonna love reading all about what you were just saying" she says in a normal voice now. Both men look at each other, then at the same time leave their bottles over the bar and start walking to the door.

"Buffy, what the hell?!" she hears Anya's voice from behind her. She turns around to find not only Anya, but Faith as well standing there looking at her with a little smirk on her face.

"What?" Buffy folds her arms across her chest defiantly.

"Did you just threaten them?" Anya asks in disbelief.

"Yes"

"Are you insane?"

"No"

"You know we're working here, right? You just gave a very boring speech about that to my husband an hour ago"

"You don't know what happened, so please give me some credit here"

"Well, then tell me what happened"

"I'd rather not"

"Then I won't give you anything! Anything!" she repeats the last word angrily.

Faith's looking at both blondes with a look of amazement in her eyes and a little smirk. She folds her arms across her chest and looks at just Buffy now with a mix of amusement and pride. Her smirk gets a little wider when she hears the exasperation in Buffy's voice.

"I don't need your approval, you know?" she glares at her partner.

"I brought everyone here, so if you're gonna kick someone out I have the right to know why. Besides, I just heard you talking about their wives. You know very well who their wives are, and I don't want any trouble…" Anya whines with a pleading look in her eyes "…we've already had some trouble with them, remember? I don't want anyone calling me at four a.m. again. I need my beauty sleep…"

"They were talking shit, ok? Can't you just trust me on this one?"

"No, not 'ok'… And no. I have to listen to a lot of stupid stuff coming from a lot of stupid people every day, and you too. That's part of our jobs! That's no reason to kick someone out!"

Buffy sighs and finishes her drink like it was a shot "They were making sexual innuendos about Faith and Tara. Very rude ones" Faith gets a cocky grin on her face and Anya looks at Buffy squinting in suspicion "…like what?" she asks.

"Anya, I'm not gonna repeat what they said!"

"Well, you have to" Anya sighs and orders a drink "Your criteria about 'rudeness' is extremely stupid… You're always telling me I'm rude, and I'm certainly not"

Faith chuckles and Buffy glares at her "Fine! And by the way, you are rude"

"Whatever, tell me…"

"…one of them said something about Tara being shy and wanting to… you know… 'cause shy girls are usually good in bed…"

"That may be true; I have some theories about that myself…" Anya says "…but ok. He was a little out of line there saying he wanted to bang her" she nods her head "What about this one?" she asks pointing at Faith with her thumb.

"Isn't it enough already?"

"You kicked both of them out, so I'm assuming you had a reason for the other one too… spill"

Now Faith looks at Buffy still smirking but with one eyebrow raised. Buffy looks back at her and sighs "He said he wanted to bend Faith over a kitchen counter. And that she looks like a bad girl with her tattoo, and that she probably has some more, and even a piercing somewhere… And that 'you just know she likes it rough'…" she looks to a very amused Faith "…and that he wants her to cook him breakfast at his place…" she finishes looking down and blushing a little.

Anya thinks for a few seconds in silence and then nods her head "Ok. Thank you for doing something about it. We don't need those kinds of jerks talking like that about our clients. Or any other woman, for that matter…" she gives Buffy a little pat on the shoulder "…go feminism!" and then turns around a walks away.

"She's so fuckin' weird! But man, she cracks me up…" Faith says chuckling and looking Anya walk away from them "And thank you…" she adds seriously stepping a little closer to the blonde who looks at her with a little suspicion in her eyes waiting for some kind of joke or something "…seriously, Buffy. Thank you for standing up for us" the brunette adds looking at her in the eye "You didn't have to, but you did it anyway… That took some guts… I really appreciate that, ya know?" she smiles a little.

The blonde nods her head "You're very welcome…" she smiles at Faith and immediately starts to relax a little. The brunette smiles back, gets closer to the bar and orders two of something from the bartender, who nods in return. She sits on the stool next to Buffy's and gets a little grin on her face "…and I don't have any piercings"

The blonde looks at her and smiles "Really?"

Faith nods her head "Really…" she takes the drinks the bartender just handed her and gives one to Buffy "…I do have a couple more tattoos, though…"

The blonde chuckles a little and scans briefly the brunette's body with her eyes half closed in concentration "Where?"

Faith shakes her head and takes a sip from her glass "Won't tell" she says making Buffy laugh.

* * *

"You can't be serious, bro" Faith says looking straight at Xander "There's no way that crappy pizza you buy is better than mine"

"I haven't tried yours, but I'm pretty sure it is" he says back. They're both in his office. He's standing and leaning against his desk, while she's sitting on one of the chairs with her feet up his desk. The phone starts ringing and Xander picks it up "Go for Harris" he says and frowns while listening to the other side of the line. After a few seconds he hangs up and looks back at Faith "Buffy wants you to keep your feet off my desk" he says and looks to his left, where he can see Buffy sitting at her desk looking at them a little annoyed, with a woman and a man sitting in front of her.

Faith looks at the blonde too and sends her a dimpled smile while taking her feet down and mouthing "Sorry" making the blonde smile a little and shake her head at her before looking back at her clients.

"Tell you what..." she says looking at Xander again "...tonight, my place. Come with Anya and bring your stupid 'delicious' pizza. I'll make mine and finally shut you up, and teach ya a thing or two" she takes her iPhone out of her pocket and starts texting 'Tonight, pizza, my place. Xand and Anya r in. R u?' seconds later they can see Buffy look at her Blackberry and back at them, nodding her head with a little smile "B's in then... You ask Willow, I'll ask Tara. That ok with ya?"

"It's a pizza off!" Xander says with a goofy grin making the brunette chuckle "I've missed your dorkiness, man"

* * *

"T, can you get that? I'm kinda in the middle of something!" Faith shouts from the kitchen when the doorbell rings "Yeah!" her best friend shouts back from the living room and goes to get the door. A minute later Xander enters the kitchen "Here I come, bearing various pizzas!" he says walking to place the boxes over the counter top "Whatcha doing?"

Faith looks at him and smirks "What does it looks like I'm doing?"

"My money's on pizza..."

"Then why do ya ask, dumb ass?" she chuckles and punches him lightly on the shoulder.

"Need any help?"

"Nah, I'm done here for now..." she says covering the dough with a rag and starting to clean the counter.

"So, that's how the miracle of pizza happens?" he asks leaning against the wall looking at her.

"You've never seen how it's made?" she asks and he shakes his head 'no' "Seriously?"

"As far as I'm concerned, pizza comes from a magical place, where little pizza fairies deliver them for humans to sell, and for me to buy" he grins at her "You're still a dork, dude" she chuckles and washes her hands before taking off her bandana and apron "C'mon, I have a really violent new game I've been dying to try"

They both walk out of the kitchen and Xander goes to sit on the couch, while Faith walks to the Play Station 3, puts the game in and tosses a joystick for him to catch before sitting on the couch "I really hope you don't suck like you used to" she says as the game starts to load and Xander elbows her "I never sucked!"

"Yeah, ya kinda did" she chuckles, and after selecting characters and weapons, the game starts "I didn't! You're just mean!" he says as his character starts running around shooting bullets everywhere.

"Oh, I'm sorry, princess. Didn't mean to hurt your feelings" the brunette chuckles "Yo! Stop that! Aim, dude!"

"I am aiming!" he says pressing almost all the buttons at the same time.

"No, you're shooting like a girl!"

"You ARE a girl!"

"And yet, I shoot like a dude!" she snorts and Xander's side of the screen goes red "You suck, Xander"

"Did you just shot me in the face?!"

"Well, yeah!"

He glares at her "I hate you"

"You suck. Even B would've lasted more than ya, and she's the most fuckin' girly chick EVER!"

"Hey!" they turn around to find Buffy standing behind the couch with her arms folded across her chest and a frown on her face "When did you arrived?" the brunette asks with a dimpled smile.

"A few minutes ago, when Xander was shooting like a little bitch" the blonde smirks and goes to sit on the couch too, on Faith's other side, while all the girls start laughing.

"I don't shoot- you know what? You suck! It sucks that I'm the only guy here!" he leaves his joystick on the coffee table "Why can't any of you get a boyfriend?!"

Buffy and Faith exchange a look and both of them smile "Yeah... I'm not gonna be doing that any time soon, Xander" Willow says from the table interrupting their little moment.

"Maybe if you play a game a little less macho-friendly you would feel better, honey" Anya suggests looking at him, and Xander turns around to look at his wife "I would really appreciate if, just for once, you'd be on my side"

"I am on your side! But we can't hide the fact that you suck, it's already out there"

"I think I have something for ya, gimme a sec" Faith grins and stands up "I don't have anything exclusively chick-friendly..." she says while walking to a cabinet that's near the TV "...but maybe this..." she opens the door and takes out two little guitars with multi colored buttons instead of strings. One's black and vintage looking, and the other is a gray one that looks like a mini Les-Paul "...will work for ya?" she takes out a stand with a mike attached to it too.

Xander grins and stands up to help her "Which one do ya want?" she asks. He looks at both guitars and takes the black one "I suppose that one's yours" pointing to the gray one that has a few rock bands stickers "Yeah" the brunette chuckles and straps hers' on, while changing the game on the console "T? Ya wanna?" she asks looking back at her friend and pointing at the mike.

"I don't think so..." the blonde laughs and shakes her head.

"Don't be shy, T! You really can sing!"

"You guys seriously play this?" Buffy asks standing up from the couch and sitting on the floor by the coffee table to be able to see both the screen and Xander and Faith, who are standing by the couch.

"Hell yeah!" the brunette says and looks at her "Wanna try?" Buffy shakes her head 'no' and Faith shrugs her shoulders "If any of you want, I have some other stuff in there..."

"There's no way I'm singing or pretending to play anything" Willow says with a laugh.

"I don't understand that game anyway..." Anya shrugs and moves to the empty couch to be able to look at the screen and her husband "…it's all a mess of colors and music and I never know what to do" she explains, while Tara and Willow smile and move to the couch too now that there's more room.

The game finishes loading and Faith looks at Xander grinning "Bass or guitar?" he shrugs "Whatever you don't want" she selects guitar for herself "Bass it is" he nods his head with a smile "Wanna sing, too?"

"You really think I'll be able to sing and play at the same time?" he asks frowning.

"Why not? T does it, I do it..."

"Then you do it" Xander grins at her "I'll just be the cool bass player" he selects a medium level and Faith selects the hard one "A'ight..." she takes a few steps back and places the stand in front of her, adjusting it to her height.

"Can I pick the song?" Xander asks a little too excited making everyone laugh "Yeah, dude. Go ahead..." she says and glances briefly to the blonde sitting on the floor, who's looking at her with a little smile. She smiles back and winks when Xander says "Found it!" and presses the green button on his guitar.

Faith looks away from the blonde and back at the screen "Oh, God! You're just a little pussy, aren'tcha?" she chuckles when she notices the song he selected.

"Yeah, yeah! Don't distract the pussy bass player!" Xander adjusts his guitar and looks straight at the screen as the song is starting.

A lot of colored little rectangles start advancing on Faith's side of the screen as she start's pressing the colored buttons on her guitar in time with the strum bar, when the little rectangles on the screen reach the bottom of what looks like a guitar fret. Xander looks at her for a second and starts doing the same when his appears "This is so cool!" he shouts excited while playing before the lyrics start appearing at the top of the screen and the brunette leans into the mike, brushing it with her lips and winking at Buffy again, who's looking straight at her "I am finding out that maybe I was wrong. That I've fallen down and I can't do this alone. Stay with me, this is what I need, please?" she looks almost pleadingly at the blonde again for a second before looking back at the screen "Sing us a song and we'll sing it back to you. We could sing our own but what would it be without you?"

"I never knew she could sing like that!" Willow whispers leaning a little closer to Tara and looks back at Faith and Buffy when the blonde nods her head.

"I am nothing now and it's been so long since I've heard the sound, the sound of my only hope. This time I will be listening" Faith keeps singing in all seriousness looking at the screen just long enough to know when to strum her guitar, and concentrating on Buffy, who's smiling almost sadly and looking at her "Sing us a song and we'll sing it back to you. We could sing our own but what would it be without you?" she licks her lips and looks at Buffy again frowning, but now with a little smile starting to show "This heart, it beats, beats for only you. This heart, it beats, beats for only you, oh…" now the blonde gets a little shy smile on her face "This heart, it beats, beats for only you. My heart is yours" Faith smiles wider "This heart, it beats, beats for only you. My heart is yours"

Willow and Tara look at each other half smiling half frowning having seen the looks between Buffy and Faith while the brunette sings. The redhead leans a little closer to the other girl "Is it me, or she's singing to Buffy?"

Tara chuckles and nods her head "Yeah, it's not just you... Buffy has turned big bad Faith into a total chick"


	5. I'd be an Idiot if I Didn't Want That

**Author's note #1: **I may or may not know the chef who's got all those injuries. They're all real. Seriously. Painfully real.

**Author's note #2: **Thanks for the reviews, guys! It helps keep things going like you wouldn't believe. So, again: THANK YOU! To all of you!

* * *

**Chapter 05: I'd be an Idiot if I Didn't Want That**

"What the hell, Faith?"

"What?"

"What's your problem?"

"I have no idea what you're talkin' about, but I'd really appreciate it if you lowered your voice" she walks past her friend and closes the door, glaring at the members of her staff who are eavesdropping "Get to work! Line up's in ten minutes!"

"Where were you?" the blonde folds her arms across her chest.

"Away. Busy"

"I can't believe how incredibly stupid you are"

"Listen…" the brunette starts, stepping very close to her best friend and glaring at her menacingly "…I don't know what your problem is, but you better cut this shit"

Tara looks back at her "I thought you and Buffy-"

"What?" she tries to let out a sarcastic chuckle, but it comes out a little strangled "That we WHAT exactly?" she sighs and goes to sit on the couch "She's not interested. Fuckin' ball was on her court for a month. A MONTH, TARA! It doesn't get any clearer than that!"

"I can't believe that's the excuse you're using to justify to yourself the fact that you keep sleeping with every single chick that's stupid enough to make that mistake"

"What the fuck do ya care about what I do, or who I fuck?"

"I guess I don't wanna see you screw up your life"

"Oh, is that it? Then don't worry, T. I'm doing just fine" she leans her head against the back of the couch and closes her eyes "Right, sorry… You actually look 'just fine'…" Tara sits on top of the desk facing her.

"What do ya want me to say?"

"Why would you do that to yourself again?"

"Too many fish out there, T" she smirks still with her eyes closed "Why would I miss one?"

"I really can't try to reason with you when you get this stupid"

"Fuck you, T" she sighs and opens her eyes to look straight at Tara "I did everythin' I could. I'm not gonna keep makin' a fuckin' ass of myself when CLEARLY she's not interested in me anymore. So, why can't I go out and have a little fun?"

"Who was it this time?" she looks at Faith for a few long seconds, waiting for an answer that never comes "Was a new one? Or you went back for seconds to one of your many priceless 'friends' who are always available for you?" still no answer "Was she worth screwing every single chance you might have with Buffy? To be actually happy for a change?"

"Shut up"

"Oh, so now we have a reaction!" she laughs and claps her hands a few times "Well, tell me. Was she worth it? It must've been a pretty good fuck for you to throw away the second, and probably LAST, chance life gave you to be with the only woman you've ever been in love with"

Faith jumps from the couch and walks to stand less than an inch in front of Tara "I said: shut the fuck up" she says clenching her jaw.

"You really think I'm afraid of you?" the blonde smiles and softens her expression a little "Seriously, Faith. Was it worth losing Buffy for?"

Faith lets out a long sigh and looks at the floor while taking a step back "Nothing's worth losing B again" she admits defeated and turns to her right "Sssshit!" she hisses realizing what she's done and kicks a chair. It flies across her office and slams into the wall, shattering into a few pieces "Fuck!"

"It's not the chair's fault, you know?"

"FUCK!" she screams again, louder this time, and runs her hands through her wavy hair, sitting back down on the couch. Tara stands up from the desk and goes to sit next to her. She immediately wraps her arms around her, and Faith turns a little to bury her face on her best friend's shoulder and starts sobbing uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry" Tara says rubbing Faith's back soothingly "I'm sorry, Faith. It was the only way. I had to get you out of that place… I had to break you down a little…"

"I know" the brunette answers between sobs.

"I can't stand here and watch you screw up your life" she leaves a little kiss on Faith's temple "You have to stop being afraid, sweetie. You have to give yourself a chance to be happy" she feels the brunette nod her head in agreement "I need you to promise me you'll do it. That you will try as hard as you can to make this happen, for both of you" another kiss to Faith's temple "And in exchange I promise you it'll be worth every single thing you do, every single second you have to wait. Just, please don't give up, ok? I don't want you screwing up your life anymore…" Faith nods her head again "…besides, it's only a matter of time before you hook up with a crazy chick that tries to kill you after you dump her…" she adds smiling "I need my best friend alive"

Faith chuckles and lifts her face from Tara's shoulder, wiping her tears away with her hands, and nods her head "I promise, T" she sniffles loudly "No more fuckin' around"

Tara nods her head once and smiles at her "We're going back there in a week. Take that time to put yourself back together, ok? Cut the badass crap a little bit, and just be your sweet self with her" she grins when Faith nods her head "And then, for the love of God, go get your woman"

* * *

Buffy is sitting on the couch in Willow's office with a cup of coffee in her hand while the redhead's at her desk typing madly on her computer "So, that's it? It's been like two months since you've found her again! You're just gonna do… nothing?" Willow asks, briefly looking at her friend.

"What's there to do?"

"Don't play the blonde card on me Buffy, I know you dye you hair and you're actually a brunette…" she looks at her friend and stands up from her desk. Then goes around and leans against it facing Buffy.

The blonde glares at her "Light brunette! Emphasis on 'light'! And what do you want me to do?"

Willow sighs and folds her arms over her chest "I don't know… You've been hanging out with her. We all hung out together, just like the old times… And you've got a little sparkle in your eyes every time you looked at her, I don't know how I didn't notice that before… And you know what? She had the same look! I don't think you should let this go… Or her…"

"Will, I don't even know how I feel about it… or her…"

"Well, you got super jealous of that girl Cassie, so I guess you kinda know how you feel"

"Hey! They came out of there laughing and both of them had wet hair!"

"Right, 'cause two women laughing and having their hair wet after working for I don't know how many hours in a sweaty as hell kitchen means they're sleeping together…"

"I don't know how it works!" Buffy says starting to get frustrated.

"Well, I do! And I can tell you, it doesn't mean a thing! They got a shower. Separate showers! Besides, Cassie's not gay, Buffy"

"Who told you that? Your super advanced gaydar?" she says sarcastically.

"Ok, you're really starting to piss me off… But no. I ran into her about two weeks ago and she introduced me to her boyfriend, who was there with her. Really big guy, kinda hot if you're into guys… I think his name's Graham something" the blonde on the couch opens her mouth to say something, but Willow interrupts her right away "I get it if you're scared. But stop making excuses"

"I'm not scared…"

"Yes, you are" Willow smiles and goes to close the door and then sits next to her best friend on the couch "From what you've told me, Faith was your first love. You two had to break up, but not because you wanted to… you broke up still being in love with each other. And I can tell it was a mutual thing. You've dated some guys after that, but come on… none lasted more than a few months. Can you guess why?"

"Because they sucked and were SO boring" the blonde starts to relax a little and smiles.

"Well yeah, a little bit. Particularly Riley. But no" now Willow's smiling too "It's because they weren't Faith, honey" Buffy leans against the couch and sighs loudly "Deep down you know I'm right" the redhead says "So stop being so stubborn and if you still have feelings for her, which I know you do, cut the crap and talk to her about it"

"What if she's not-"

"She's gay"

"I wasn't going to say that"

"Yes, you were"

"Ok, I was… But what if she's-"

"She's not seeing anyone… At least not 'seriously'…"

"But if she's not-"

"She's into you more than you'd think. She flirts with you every single time. For God's sake, she sang that song just for you that night like… a month ago!"

"You're kinda creeping me out with all this 'knowing what I'm gonna say' thing"

"Good" Willow gives her a big grin "Now, they're coming here today. Do something. Anya's coming this way, so change the subject" at that exact moment the door opens and Anya pokes her head in "If you girls are done chatting or flirting or whatever it is you're doing…" she says and then looks at Buffy "The models are on their way up, I need you out there, otherwise Xander's gonna start doing magic or something equally stupid and we can't lose Victoria's Secret…"

Both girls on the couch laugh and then Buffy stands up to follow her partner "Remember our little talk" Willow says, and the goes back to her desk once her friends gives her a little nod.

"What were you talking about?" Anya asks as they walk together to the elevator.

"Nothing…"

"Was it sex? Are you orgasm buddies now?"

"No! Why does everything have to be about sex with you?"

"Because it's fun" they both stand a few feet away from the elevator just in time to see the doors open and a big, big man step out of it followed by six models.

* * *

"Whoa! I think I didn't choose my career very well… is it too late to start over? This must be the greatest job in the world, dude! They ARE fuckin' angels!" Faith smirks, looking through the glass wall into a shooting room full of Victoria's Secret Angels posing for a camera just on some very sexy lingerie. Buffy is inside the room too, with her glasses on and her arms folded across her chest. She's standing behind the photographer, looking at a little screen and telling them what to do every once in a while. Her back's facing the door, so she can't see them standing outside.

"They banned me out of there for saying things like that…" Xander says, standing next to her "Actually, Anya did. I think it's because I'm a guy, you girls can look at other girls, but when I do it, I'm a perv…"

"Yeah! And you shouldn't be looking now either, Xander!" they hear her shout from a desk nearby and the young man sighs defeated before turning around and going back to his office.

Buffy seems to have heard something, because she turns around to see what's going on outside, just in time to see Faith standing there with her arms folded across her chest and a big dimpled grin. She gives her a little smile and turns around again when she sees the brunette move her eyebrows up and down with an evil smirk on her face. She leans to say something to the photographer and then turns and starts walking to the door "Lauren, can you keep an eye in there and call me if they need anything? Devon knows what to do already"

"Of course, Buffy" the tall brunette girl stands up from her desk and goes inside the shooting room.

"You" Buffy says looking at the brunette, who's still staring at the models with a big grin "My office" she lightly pushes Faith by the shoulder in the direction of her office.

"Aaaww, B!" she fakes a groan and then goes to the blonde's office with a smile. Once in there she can see Tara sitting across from Willow in the redhead's office talking and laughing "Those two seem to be gettin' along pretty well…" she says as she sits across Buffy's desk.

The blonde closes the door and goes to sit across from the brunette "Yeah" she says looking at them and smiling.

"Can I ask you somethin'?" Faith asks a little unsure, looking at the blonde in the eye.

Buffy nods "Sure"

"Is Red…? You know…" she trails off.

"What?"

Faith rolls her eyes and sighs "…gay?"

Buffy smiles "Oh! Yeah… why?"

"Good" Faith smiles "Don't want to see my best friend gettin' hurt"

"You mean Tara…"

Faith nods her head "Oh yeah" she laughs.

Buffy looks at her and frowns "Did you two…?"

Faith can see the concern in the blonde's eyes and smiles "No. Never"

"Oh, good. Good" then she starts to panic after hearing herself "I mean, good for you guys being best friends. Not that you couldn't have dated her or anything, you know? You're a grown woman. You're twenty-eight now, just like me. You can date anyone you want. Man or woman. I mean, you're both pretty hot, so it could have happened at some point-"

Faith chuckles "Ya think I'm hot?" she asks interrupting the blonde's babble.

Buffy stops talking and blushes furiously "Huh?"

Now Faith smiles "What? You were the one who said it, not me!" she lifts her eyebrows still looking at Buffy straight in the eye with a cocky grin.

The blonde blushes even more, but doesn't take her eyes away from Faith's. She takes a big breath "Yes" then smiles when she sees that Faith's grinning widely and it gives her some more confidence "I have always thought that"

"Well, if it helps to keep your blushin' down a little bit, I think you're wicked hot too…" The brunette leans back on her chair a little "…these past ten years have done nothing but increase your hotness, and I didn't even thought that was possible!" both of them stare at each other's eyes for a few seconds, but then Faith takes the cocky grin out of her face and replaces it with a sweet smile "Seriously, you look beautiful, B" she leans in a little closer over the desk, takes Buffy's hand that's resting there and strokes it lightly with her thumb.

The blonde puts her other hand on top of Faiths "Thanks" she strokes the brunette's hand too while looking into her eyes "You look beautiful too, Faith. Amazing, actually" she looks back at their hands with a smile that's suddenly replaced with a frown "What happened?" she asks, touching lightly a bandage she just noticed over the tip of Faith's left middle finger.

"Got distracted for a millisecond while slicin' some scallions last night… three stitches and half the nail is gone" the brunette explains with a little smile and Buffy winces and lifts her hand in one quick motion "Did I hurt you? It sounds painful… I'm sorry if I did"

"You didn't B, don't worry. It doesn't hurt now. I'm used to this kinda shit. Three stitches qualifies as 'adorable', actually" Faith tries to reassure her with a smile, but Buffy takes her hands away anyway, still frowning "Seriously, I'm used to it…" the brunette chuckles and holds up her right hand in the air and points to a long scar on her wrist as a demonstration "Fought a very hot grill, bitch won…" she says laughing and making the blonde smile a little. Then points to the tip of her index and middle fingers "Hot copper pan, hotter than I thought, lost my fingerprints on this two babies…" then she turns her arm a little and shows Buffy a very deep circular scar on the outer side of her forearm "Student while I was working in Paris, accidentally tipped a pan with hot caramel, got a single drop right here, burnt almost to the bone. Never cursed someone that much in my entire life, poor guy cried like a little bitch…" the blonde keeps looking at her wide eyed and Faith lifts her right sleeve of her leather jacket showing the inside of her right forearm "...and I don't know if ya remember, but I didn't use to have all this freckles here. That's 'cause they're not freckles. I flipped somethin' on the air on a pan and got all this little melted, hot as fuck, butter drops on my arm" She lifts now her left hand and start pointing at her fingers while talking, from pinky to thumb "Debonin' a chicken, six stitches... Julienning shallots, almost fainted... This one's new, just told you, slicin' scallions... Stabbed myself, a slippery salmon's fault... Almost slice my whole thumb off with some very stubborn ribs and a very bitchy electric saw. Threw up and fainted like a little bitch..." and then she points to her wrist "…and you had the pleasure to witness this one. Moron kitchen helper caught on fire. Got burned while putting him out" she grins "Oh! And I have more, but I can't show you those in here… They're in my privates" then she winks at the blonde making her laugh.

"I'm surprised you're still alive and have all your fingers" Buffy says now starting to relax.

Faith chuckles "Right?" but then notices the blonde get a little more serious "Is everythin' ok?"

"Yes" Buffy smiles at her "It's just… I just realized we still have a lot of catching up to do, I mean, you've been working in Paris, for God's sake! Wanna go grab some lunch?" Faith smiles before the blonde has the chance to start blushing again "I'd love to"

Buffy smiles and they both stand up "Give me one second!" the blonde says, and then rushes to the door, and Faith can see her poke her head inside Willow's office. She also can see the redhead smile and nod, and Tara look at her through the wall as she winks and gives her a 'thumbs up'. Two seconds later Buffy's back "Let's go" she grabs her purse and holds the door open for Faith "No helmet today?" she asks once she realizes that there's nothing on the brunette's hands "Nope…" Faith reaches in her front pocket of her jeans and takes out a key chain with a little black electronic key "I'm in my grown up ride today"

A few minutes later they're on the ground floor and exiting the building "Bye Miss. Summers, have a nice day" the young receptionist says as she sees her. Buffy smiles at her "Bye Leah, you too"

"Miss. Summers? Is that what I have to call ya from now on?" Faith asks once they're outside.

"Well, I'm not on a first name basis with my clients, so maybe… Miss. Lehane" Buffy says in a teasing tone.

"Is that what I am? Just your client?" Faith teases her back while starting to walk next to the blonde.

"I really hope you're not just that" they stare into each other's eyes for a few seconds "So…" the blonde clears her throat "…where do you wanna go?"

"Well, I know an amazing chef who just got out of a meeting with her ad agency and is willing to cook for ya at her place… If you don't mind, of course"

Buffy smiles at her "I don't mind, at all…"

"Then follow me, please" the brunette says with a grin and walks her to a parked 2009 Corvette "You gotta be kidding me!" Buffy shouts as Faith unlocks the car with the button that's on her keychain "What?"

"This is your grown up ride?" she asks. Faith laughs and then opens the passenger door for the blonde to get in "Yeah…" Buffy shakes her head and gets in the car, and soon Faith's sitting next to her, on the driver's seat "What? Did ya think I'd have, like, a minivan or something? C'mon… It's still ME we're talking about. Of course my ride's gonna be fuckin' hot" she pushes a button and the engine comes to life. Then looks at the blonde and sees her grinning "You haven't changed a bit" Buffy says.

"Good. 'cause if I remember correctly, you were really into me the way I was" Faith turns the steering wheel and gets out into the street.

The blonde blushes a little but decides to play along "I take that you still want me to be into you?"

Faith takes her eyes off the street for a second and looks at the blonde straight in the eye with a half smile "I'd be an idiot if I didn't want that"

* * *

After a short and silent ride they arrive at Faith's building. The brunette pulls up the car at the entrance of the garage and pushes another button on her keys, opening the garage door. Once she parks the car at her spot she quickly gets out and rushes to open the passenger door "Thank you, you're such a gentleman…" Buffy says with a little laugh.

Faith smiles at her "Yes, but with all the lady parts" she winks at the blonde and they start walking to the elevators, still laughing. They stand there waiting for the lift to arrive and the brunette takes a strand of hair out of Buffy's eyes "I still can't believe this…" the blonde says blushing.

"What?"

"This… That you're here… Or actually, that I'm here, 'cause this is your place" the elevator door opens and they both get in. Faith pushes the button with the number twelve on it, and as the door closes she turns around to face Buffy "I thought I'd never see ya again B…"

The blonde gives her a sweet smile, catching a glimpse of some tears in Faiths eyes "Me neither Faith" she gently takes Faith's hand and gives it a little squeeze "I'm really glad you told Parker Abrams to go fuck himself" they both start laughing and the door opens at the twelfth floor and they get out "And I guess I owe Anya big time now… Since she was the one who called Tara in the first place"

"I guess we'll have to buy her something, dontcha think?" Faith asks as she takes her keys out of her pocket and unlocks the door to her apartment. Buffy nods as she steps in after Faith "Make yourself at home, B"

The blonde takes a look around and notices the 'Faith vibe' all around her. The place looks perfect for her. Big windows, big black leather couch with a matching coffee table in front of a big TV with a Play Station 3 hooked to it and an amazing sound system. The paintings on the walls have some kind of 'grunge' theme and every other thing in there just screams 'Faith' "What do ya think?" the brunette asks.

"Very 'you'…" Buffy answers with a big smile.

"That a good thing?"

"It's just perfect" she says while sitting on the couch.

"Good thing I didn't changed so much then" Faith grins "Well, I promised some lunch by an amazing chef… Is there anythin' you don't eat?" she asks while going into the kitchen for a few seconds and then coming back to the living room, tying an apron on her waist.

Buffy laughs "I can't believe you just asked that… I'm not gonna make any jokes, 'cause I'm a lady, obviously… But I'm not gonna be a lady all the time, so beware!"

Faith laughs too "Oh, I'm counting on that, don't worry! But would ya please answer my question?" Buffy shakes her head 'no' "I don't think so… but just to be sure, let me know what you're doing before starting, ok?"

"Don't worry, you'll notice when I start" she winks at the blonde and goes into the kitchen again.

Buffy laughs and stands up from the couch. She goes to the kitchen and leans on the doorframe looking at the brunette, who now has her hair in a ponytail and is tying a red and black bandana over her head "Even at your own place you do that?"

"What?" asks the brunette a little confused while unzipping her knife bag and unfolding it over the counter.

"Cover your hair when you're in the kitchen…" the blonde says smiling.

"Oh! That… Yeah, force of habit… besides, wouldn't want any of this mess in your food, right?" Faith says, pointing at her hair.

"No, you're right… But just for the record, I really like you hair long like this…" she smiles and Faith smiles back at her "Thanks…"

"Are you blushing?"

The brunette looks away from her "No. Of course not. I don't blush. Ever"

"Yes, you are! Don't worry, I won't tell anyone"

"Shut up, twinkie!"

* * *

They're both sitting at the big couch about two feet away from each other, their two empty plates are on the coffee table and their wine glasses are now empty too. They've been talking about what's been going on with their lives for about four hours now. Buffy reaches for her purse to get her ringing phone, and Faith turns around a little to sit facing the blonde after pouring some more wine into both their glasses.

The blonde looks the screen and sighs "Anya again… Sorry" she says before answering.

"I'll let ya get that" Faith smiles and gets up from the couch taking both empty plates into the kitchen and rinsing them, before loading the dishwasher "Anya, I told you I'm not coming back today, you can have Xander do that…" she sighs again "Well, then ask Willow or Lauren to help him" the brunette stands in the doorway looking at Buffy with a smile "No. No. No I don't. No. I told you what you should do. I'm turning off my phone now. No. Stop. Bye" Buffy turns off her phone and Faith comes back into the living room "B, if ya hafta go back I can give ya a ride…" she says sitting again on the couch.

"No, I really don't want to go" the blonde says pouting a little.

"Oh man… I've forgotten about that pout… I've always been a sucker for that pout" Faith says with a big dimpled smile that makes Buffy laugh "Well, I never forgot about your dimples" the blonde says.

"Is it me or ya're trying to seduce me?" Faith asks with a cocky grin.

"Yeah, 'cause I'm such a smooth talker" Buffy answers, rolling her eyes.

"You may not know it, but you are… And you're cute as hell. Always has been" she sees the blonde starting to blush again "Ok, where were we?"

"Well, you told me all about Paris, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Perth and Rome, and then you were asking a lot of questions" Buffy says with a big smile.

"Right! And ya haven't told me anything!"

"I don't find the topic of my exes relevant… I just told you I'm not dating anybody and that I haven't in a long time…"

"But I do… Ya see? I wanna know what I might be up against…"

"Up against? In case of what?" the blonde asks a little confused.

Faith takes a little sip of her wine and puts the glass back on the coffee table. Then gets serious and looks at Buffy straight in the eye while taking a deep breath "In case I eventually gather up the courage to tell ya that I never got over you. That I found that out the night I took you home after dinner more than two months ago. That after ten years I'm still madly in love with ya. And probably always will be…"

It takes a couple of seconds for the words to register in the blonde's brain "Wh-? How-?" she's absolutely speechless and can't do anything about it. She definitely wasn't expecting this while talking to Willow this morning.

"Fuck! I knew shouldn't-Fuck! It was too much. I'm sorry B…"

"Wha-? No, Faith… It isn't-"

"That's what I'm sayin'. I'm sorry. Forget that I said anythin', ok? It's been a really long time, we haven't see each other in ten fuckin' years..." she rests her elbows on her knees and holds her head with both hands looking at the floor "Fucker…" she mumbles to herself "I can't believe I just did that, what the fuck is wrong with me?!" but then she hears the blonde's voice. It doesn't sounds angry, it actually sounds kinda sweet "Remember what you did the night I told you that I liked you?" Faith starts nodding her head. She can't say anything with that stupid knot in her throat. Then she feels Buffy's hand lift her chin up and sees the blonde's eyes full of tears.

Buffy stands up from the couch and goes to kneel in front of Faith. She puts her left hand on Faiths right cheek and smiles for a second before kissing her. Exactly like Faith did more than twelve years ago, but with the longing of all those years they were apart, missing each other without even knowing it. Faith immediately responds holding the blonde by the waist with both hands and kisses her back, while the other girl puts her other hand on the back of her head tangling her fingers in her hair.

"Wow…" Faith sighs as they break for air and Buffy rests her forehead against hers but doesn't move any of her hands "Wasn't expecting that"

The blonde starts laughing "Me neither"

Faith laughs too and pulls her again by the waist for another kiss. But this time it's not a sixteen-year-old-girl kiss, or a surprised or unsure kiss, it's a twenty-eight-year-old-woman kiss that leaves the blonde dizzy and panting "Well, that's new" Buffy says with a smile and makes Faith laugh "Wanted to give you a heads up, B. I'm all grown up now" she lifts the blonde a little by the waist and helps her sit back down on the couch next to her.

"Yeah, I noticed that"

"So, you've been checking me out, huh?"

"Yes. But that's not what I meant" they both laugh "Actually, yeah, that's exactly what I meant" the blonde says, leaning against the back of the couch while playing with a strand of the brunette's hair.

"What is it?" Faith asks smiling, turning around to face her.

"What's what?"

"Whenever you used to do that with my hair, you had something on your mind. So, what is it?" they both laugh "I was just thinking that I actually was checking you out. And I'm… Um… quite impressed… with your… development…?"

"Is that your weird way of seriously tell me that this grown up version of me is wicked hot?" Faith asks with a half smile and a raised eyebrow. Buffy nods while blushing furiously "Well, then I'm quite impressed with your development too, B" she kisses the blonde again, this time for a little longer and deeper, until they both have to break up for air.

Faith looks at her watch and then again at Buffy "Are you busy tonight?" the blonde shakes her head 'no' "Great! Gimme a sec" she stands up and takes her iPhone from the coffee table. Then searches for a number and hits dial "Hey kid, you're up tonight" she says into the phone "I won't make it, I'm kinda busy" Buffy looks at her and smiles while shaking her head "Cassie, you've got this, ok?" she looks at Buffy now with a little smile "Don't worry, I'll call Tara right now" now she gives her a wink "I wouldn't leave my kitchen in your hands if I wasn't sure. Now I gotta go kid! See you tomorrow!" she hangs up the phone without waiting for an answer.

"Did you just ditch work?" Buffy asks in disbelief "Are you crazy?"

"Nah, that kid can handle it like a pro! Well, she is a pro actually…" she sits back down on the couch "I'll just call T and we're all set"

"All set for what?"

"Sshh! I'm on the phone B, don't be rude!" she searches Tara's number, hits 'call' and waits for her friend to pick up "Hey, I'm not gonna make it tonight. Already called Cassie, don't worry" she hears Tara's response "Yes" pause "Yes" another pause with a little smile "At home" pause again and then a little chuckle "Thank you, asshole!" she laughs a little more "Ok, bye! See you tomorrow night" she hangs up and tosses her phone over the coffee table "There! T says 'Hi'..."

"I have no idea what's going here, you know that, right?" Buffy asks completely lost.

Faith pouts a little "I just wanna spend a little time with ya"

The blonde briefly kisses her pout and then smiles "Good. Me too"

"I have a lot of questions though" Faith says shrugging a little.

"Only if they're not about my exes"

"Nah… Don't worry, I can always ask Red or Xand-Man about that"

"Please, don't!"

Faith laughs "Ok, ok… But I still think there are some things we need to talk about… That's why I ditched work tonight" she turns on the couch a little bit to face the blonde, who's still leaning against the back of it "Ok, shoot" Buffy says with a smile.

"I'm a little confused…"


	6. You Can Pee Even When I'm Talking to Ya

**Chapter 06: You Can Pee Even When I'm Talking to Ya**

Now Buffy starts to panic a little "Confused? We just made out in your couch like a couple of teenagers and NOW you tell me you're confused, Faith?"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, B! Would ya let me talk?"

"I'm sorry baby, go ahead"

Faith smiles at her "I like the sound of that…"

"The sound of what?"

"What you just called me. I swear you have ADD, B!" Faith starts laughing "Doesn't matter, I'll tell you later-"

"Weren't you the one with ADD?" Buffy asks frowning.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, B! Would ya just let me talk? And no. Turned out I didn't, it wasn't that…"

"Then what was it?"

"Swear to God, B. I'm gonna smack ya on the side of the head any minute now"

Faith's frustration makes Buffy laugh "I'm sorry, I'll shut up now. Tell me, why you are confused?"

"Thank you… I just don't know how we should move from here… I mean, assuming you want to go on with this…?" she just now realized she never asked the blonde.

"I do" Buffy says smiling and takes the brunette's hand in hers.

"Ok, cool, me too, me too…"

"Faith, sweetie? Calm down…" they both laugh a little and then Faith keeps talking "The thing is… All that stuff from ten years ago. What happens with that? I mean, are we starting from scratch? Does that time counts and we were just 'on pause'? Do I get to track down all your exes and beat the shit outta them? Should we forget about that and get to know each other all over again?"

She pauses and Buffy thinks about it for a few seconds "No to the exes' part" she says glaring at the brunette "But, I don't think we should act like that never happened, right? We know each other pretty well from back there…"

"Yeah, we do" the brunette says in a sexy, husky voice, moving her eyebrows up and down suggestively.

"That's not what I meant, Faith! Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"What?! It counts, doesn't it?" she asks laughing.

"Yeah, I guess so… But we're both older now, so it'll be kinda new too, right?"

"Ya picked up a few new tricks on the road, B?" Faith asks with a big grin.

"Oh, shut up!" Buffy smacks Faith's leg lightly "And no, didn't have the chance…" she blushes.

"There's no fuckin' way I'll believe that ya didn't have sex in ten years… as much as I would like to right now, 'cause the thought of you with someone else makes me wanna punch the wall…"

"I just didn't with any other girl, hence the 'no new tricks' thing…" says the blonde laughing a little bit "…and it's good to know that you're kinda jealous"

"Oh…" now's Faith's turn to blush "Ok, good! So… In a way, it was just me?"

Buffy nods and smiles "Yes, Faith… It was just you…"

"And some dudes…"

Buffy rolls her eyes "Yeah…"

"How many?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Sorry, got sidetracked…"

"I'm not even gonna ask about your new tricks, I really don't want to know"

"And I'm the jealous one?!"

"Drop it Faith… Just, let's go back on track, ok?"

"Ok, ok! Sorry…" she pauses "So, we both agree on this: that time counts, right?"

"Yes baby"

The brunette smiles goofily "So, we've been dating for over two years…?"

"You could say that, yes. With a ten year pause"

"So… We could just… You know…" she nods towards her bedroom grinning.

The blonde chuckles a little bit "You really think you're gonna get it that easily?"

Faith chuckles too and points each statement with one of her fingers "I've cooked for ya, ditch work, we talked for hours, and gotcha a little drunk… It was worth the shot"

"Nice try, sweetheart…" Buffy gives her a little kiss and Faith grins "It feels like we've been together forever… Don't you feel that?" the blonde says after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

Faith nods "Yeah… It's weird. Like those ten years were just a couple of hours, right?"

"Yeah…" Buffy thinks "We shouldn't rely on that, though… It can backfire at any moment. We're still the same, but I'm sure a lot of other things changed, right?"

Faith nods while thinking "Maybe we should… take it easy…?"

"Yes" the blonde says and Faith expression drops a little "But we can still make out all night if you want" both of them start laughing before leaning in to make out for a few very long minutes "When did it got dark outside?" Buffy asks looking through the window and then at Faith's watch to see it was nine p.m. already.

Faith shrugs "Somewhere between my confusion and our making out, I guess"

"Are you hungry?"

"Always, B. Why do you think I became a chef?"

Buffy grins and shakes her head "Wanna go grab something to eat?"

"Are ya serious?"

"What? I don't want you cooking again. You've done enough for today…" the blonde says biting her lower lip.

"You know that you bite your lip every time ya're lying, right? Well, lying or horny, so which one is it? Although, 'horny' is more like a… um, nibbling…" the brunette says before holding said lip between her index finger and thumb, and then kissing it before releasing her grip "What is it? You don't like my food? You can tell me if ya don't, I'm a big girl, ya know? I can take it…"

"Yeah, I can tell… and I know you can take it…" the blonde says with an evil grin looking Faith up and down "…and I love your food" she adds seriously.

The brunette kisses her again "Then what is it?"

"I don't wanna say…" Buffy starts to blush furiously.

"Now you have to" Faith mocks a pout "You're gonna hurt my feelings if ya don't"

"Oh c'mon don't play the feelings card, Faith!"

The pout gets bigger and some tears start to fill the brunette's eyes.

"Don't do that, please?" Buffy kisses her and feels a single tear fall down Faith's cheek "Oh, c'mon Faith! Fine!" she says frustrated and then leans again against the back of the couch "I don't want you cooking…"

"And that's becaaaaaause…?"

Buffy glares at her and lets out a frustrated sigh "Because it turns me on to see you cook like you did today… Like, A LOT" she folds her arms across her chest and looks down frowning.

Faith smirks "Really?"

"Oh, so now all the tears are magically gone, right?! You suck Faith! You're the worst…" she bites her bottom lip again.

"I wouldn't turn ya on if I was the worst" the brunette smiles and then shifts a little on the couch. Before Buffy can see what's happening, she has Faith straddling her lap and kissing her neck. The blonde immediately forgets about everything and her hands go to Faith's waist and start sneaking up on her back under her t-shirt. Then all of a sudden the kissing stops and the weight of the brunette is lifted from her lap. She opens her eyes to see Faith standing in front of her with a cocky grin on her face "Too bad we're taking things slow, huh?" she picks up the phone from the stand and looks at her again "I'm ordering something then, what do ya want?"

"I really hate you right now, you know?"

"I do" same cocky grin.

The blonde groans in frustration and stands up "Whatever you want is fine… I need to pee" she goes to the bathroom and closes the door behind her.

"I'll stand here talking to ya the entire time you're in there so you can't do anything else than peeing, ya know?" she hears Faith say from the other side of the door and has to laugh "Otherwise it's cheating! If I can't have any, you can't have any! Even if it is with yourself!"

"I can't pee if you keep talking to me, Faith!" she tries to sound serious, but she's really laughing now.

"Then I guess ya didn't have to go so bad!" then she hears the toilet flush after a few seconds "See? You can pee even when I'm talking to ya though the door!" now she can hear water running and suddenly the door opens in her face startling her "You're a pain in the ass, you know that?" Buffy asks walking past her and sitting again on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table.

"Yeah, a certain blonde told me that like… ten years ago" she goes behind the couch and plants a big kiss on the blonde's neck making her giggle "Is sushi ok babe?" she asks putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder. Buffy turns her head and kiss that hand "Yes, thank you" she waits until Faiths on the phone ordering and looks at her in the eye before saying "And I wasn't gonna touch myself, you know? Unless not until later tonight at home…" then she can see Faith staring at her with her mouth wide open, and can hear a voice on the other side of the line "Anything else, Miss?" but the brunette doesn't answer "…Miss? Are you there?"

"Maybe you should answer him…" Buffy says laughing and pointing at the phone.

Then Faith blinks "Oh, right! No, that'll be all, thank you" she hangs up and puts the phone back on the stand "That was very shitty of ya B" she says with a little smile.

"I know… I would love to say that I'm sorry, but I'm really not" Buffy grins widely.

Faith laughs and kisses the blonde upside down on the lips from behind before walking to the kitchen "Ya know, if you wanna get that on tape and send it to me, I would be ok with it!" she shouts from the kitchen with a little chuckle.

The blonde laughs too "There's no way I'm getting ANYTHING on tape" she hears Faith laugh and then adds "You can see it live sometime though…" then she hears glass shatter followed by Faith's voice "Shit!"

Buffy quickly stands up and goes to the kitchen door "Are you ok?" she looks at Faith first making sure she hasn't hurt herself, and then at the floor. She sees a shattered wine glass and tries very hard not to laugh, which causes the brunette to glare at her "Look what ya made me do!"

"I wasn't even here!"

"Ya know whatcha did!"

Buffy goes in and gently helps Faith move a little so she can help her clean up all the little pieces of glass "Remember not to come barefoot in here. If you still do that..." the blonde says as she scoots all the pieces up and throws them away. The brunette gets a little smile on her face and leans against the counter "Yeah, I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and come here to get some water. Maybe you should stay and make sure I don't walk around barefoot"

Buffy smiles and goes to stand in front of her, holding her by the waist "Nice try…" she gives Faith a little peck on the lips "But I already told you, I have plans for tonight at home…" and then leaves the kitchen and a very frustrated brunette in there "You suck!" she hears Faith shout at her and laughs.

"You wish!" she shouts back and sits on the couch.

"Stop that! I don't wanna be breaking all my glasses in one night, B! They're good ones!" she comes out of the kitchen with two more glasses and puts them on the coffee table "I don't remember ya being so…"

"So…?"

"Bold"

Buffy smiles and stands up from the couch. She takes a few steps and goes to stand in front of Faith, holding her by the waist with both hands "Well, get used to it, baby. I'm not eighteen anymore…" she says with her lips almost brushing the brunette's.

Faith gulps "Fuck! Fuckfuckfuckfuck!" she whispers to herself and bites hard on her lower lip. The blonde looks at Faith lips and smiles "You're gonna hurt yourself" she says still staring at them "Let me help you with that…" she takes one of her hands off the brunette's waist and holds her by the back of the head, again tangling her fingers in Faith's hair, and kisses her deeply.

They stay like that, standing in the middle of the living room kissing, until the doorbell startles them both "Holy shit!" Faith puts her hand over her heart while panting. Buffy laughs and gives her one short kiss "Let me get that". She turns around, grabs her wallet from her purse and goes to open the door, and before Faith can even react the blonde is closing the door and taking the food to the kitchen. The brunette follows her, but this time she's the one standing leaning on the doorway looking at the girl inside "Ya're really good at that" she points out smiling.

"Oh yeah, unwrapping and serving food that someone else already made is my specialty" she looks at Faith and returns the smile.

* * *

"C'mon B, do ya really, really, reeeeaaaaally hafta go?" Faith asks pouting.

"I have to wake up very early to go to work tomorrow, baby" the blonde says now pouting too "Stop doing that, please? You're making me feel really bad about it"

"Pretty pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaase?" the brunette's eyes start to fill up with tears.

"Oh God, Faith don't do that, please"

"Look, you can stay here. I promise I'll be a good girl" she says, smiling a little "I won't try anythin'. I'll even sleep on the couch if ya want me to…"

"There's no way you'll sleep on the couch at your own place-"

"So you're considering it!" Faith says grinning.

Buffy blushes a little and smiles "Maybe… I really have to wake up early tomorrow, but I don't wanna be away from you either, you know? I'm not strong enough to say 'no' to that pout" she sees Faith start grinning "But! We're both sleeping on your bed, and you'll be a good girl" Faith nods enthusiastically "We really are taking this slow…"

"I know B, don't worry about that… I know it's for the best. I'm not a horny teenager anymore"

Buffy raises one eyebrow "Ok, I'm not a teenager anymore" the brunette says chuckling.

"There's still the issue of clothes… I can't wear this to work tomorrow-" the blonde says looking at her clothes.

"You can borrow whatever you want" Faith offers smiling "I don't know if I have any 'office boss' type of clothes, but I'm sure you can find somethin' that'll work for ya… Besides, tomorrow's Friday. You can use the 'casual Friday' excuse"

The blonde laughs and gives Faith a short kiss "You seem to have a comeback to everything I could possibly say, right?"

"Always" the brunette winks and takes Buffy by the hand, leading her to the bedroom. She turns on the light and in front of them there's a large king sized bed, with a large black wooden headboard and silver gray sheets. On the wall over the headboard there's a big black and white picture of the city skyline in a black wooden frame. There are two black nightstands on both sides of the bed, each with a single table lamp. One of them, the one on the left side, has also a few things scattered over it. A watch, a wristband, a pair of sunglasses and a cell phone charger "Ok, so I assume that's my side?" the blonde ask pointing at the right side of the bed. Faith smiles at her while walking to the dresser "Is it that obvious that I sleep on the left side?"

Buffy goes and sits on the bed looking at her with a smile "You should see what my side looks like… this is nothing, believe me" then she turns to look at the picture above the bed "That's really cool…"

Faith turns around with two t-shirts and two shorts in her hands "Can't wait to see that" she winks at the blonde and tosses her one of each "Here… Hope those are ok" then she sees what Buffy's talking about "That's an original Maclay… Tara's one hell of an artist"

The blonde nods with a big smile "I can tell… and these are perfect, thank you"

"Hey, if you like to sleep on the left side I have no problem switchin', B. I mean, I would probably turn around in my sleep and slap you, but nothin' more than that…" the brunette says laughing, making the other girl laugh too "No, it's ok. Actually I sleep on the right side"

Faith grins "Ok, then! There's a bathroom over there…" she says pointing to a door on the left side of the room "…and the other one's outside, you've been in there trying to touch yourself earlier, remember?"

Buffy's eyes open twice their normal size "I wasn't-"

"Anyway!" the brunette interrupts her, laughing "You can go get changed in there…" she points to the bedroom's bathroom "…there's a new toothbrush on the right drawer, feel free to take it and whatever else ya need. If you can't find somethin', just let me know babe, I'll be changin' in here. And please, make yourself at home, seriously"

Buffy gives her a sweet smile and stares at her brown eyes "What?" the brunette asks a little lost "You act all tough and badass, but you're the sweetest girl I've ever met when we're alone… Always been that way… Always loved that about you" she says with the same sweet smile and then gives her a short kiss on the lips.

"Please don't tell anybody that, I have a rep to keep, ya know?" Faith holds her by the waist smiling.

"It'll just be our little secret, don't worry" she gives the brunette one more kiss and then goes to the bathroom. She's inside and about to close the door, but before doing that, turns around and leans on the doorframe looking at Faith who's already unbuckling her belt "I have no problem changing in here with you, you know?" she says pointing at the bedroom.

Faith looks up a little startled, having thought Buffy was inside already, and suddenly stops what she was doing. Then looks at Buffy with a lopsided smile "But I do… You're doin' this for me, believe me, B" she clears her throat "I can't risk seeing ya in your underwear right now since we're takin' this slow. Otherwise I'm gonna be the one on that bathroom for a while…"

Buffy grins and runs to quickly kiss Faith, then stands on the tip of her toes to reach the brunette's ear and lightly brushes it with her lips while whispering "Who says I'm wearing any baby?" then she turns around and runs back to the bathroom closing the door behind her and giggling when she hears from the other side of the door "Shit!"

A few minutes later she comes out of the bathroom to find Faith already changed sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard, checking something on her iPhone. The brunette lifts her gaze as she hears the door open and looks at Buffy with a big smile "Well, look at that…" she says and leaves her cell phone on the nightstand.

"What?" she asks as she sits on the bed facing Faith.

"You look beautiful"

The blonde blushes a little "Thank you… You're not so bad yourself, you know?" then the blonde notices something on Faith's thigh now that she's wearing a really short pair of shorts. She gulps and bends a little to get a closer look "That's what you were talking about?" she asks.

"What?" the brunette asks a little lost.

"This…" Buffy says touching the tattoo that's on the outer side and over the top of Faith's left thigh. There's some kind of very delicate vine tribal that ends just there.

"Oh, that…" Faith smiles "…yeah, that's one of 'em"

Buffy lifts slightly the leg of Faith's short and can see that the drawing goes up "Where does it start?"

The brunette smiles and lifts the left side of her shirt to just right under her breast "Here" she points to her ribs on that side where the vines start under her breast and goes down all over her side to her thigh. Buffy traces the lines lightly with her fingers sending a shiver down the Faith's spine "I've never been a tattoo kinda girl I guess, but I have to admit that this is really beautiful…"

Faith smiles at her and waits for the blonde to take her hand away before lowering her shirt back down "Thank you"

"…and very hot too" Buffy adds smiling and making Faith chuckle a little "Are there more?" she asks.

"Yes. But ya're gonna see 'em when you spot 'em. If ya don't right now, then you'll have to wait until you do…" the brunette says with an evil grin "…that's what you get for the 'slow' thing"

Buffy laughs and nods her head "Fair enough"

Both of them laugh and Faith holds out her arm so Buffy can lean against her when she sees her shift on the bed. So the blonde leans with her back against Faith's chest and she's immediately secured in the brunette's arms. Faith sighs smiling and kisses the side of Buffy's head. They both lay like that for a few minutes in comfortable silence "What time do ya have to wake up babe?" Faith asks nuzzling the blonde's neck.

"I have to be at the office by nine…" Buffy sighs "…and that feels really good, Faith" she says as a compliment and a warning at the same time.

Faith laughs "I remember…" she says and stops nuzzling the blonde's neck "Ok, then how long do ya take in the shower? Still forever?" she smiles a devilish smile "And I mean a regular shower, no funny business or anythin'…"

Buffy gives her a little slap on the side of her thigh "Stop that!" and they both smile "About twenty minutes" she relaxes more against Faith "No funny business, I promise" the brunette smiles and can feel her starting to relax and lightly moves to turn off both lamps from her side. The only light in the room now comes through the curtains from the street. She gives the blonde another kiss on the side of the head "Night, B" she whispers in case the blonde's already asleep, but Buffy turns around slowly to lay down facing her and starts nuzzling on the brunette's neck and stroking lightly the side of her thigh "Good night, baby…" she says, before moving to Faith's lips and kissing her.

"B…?" the brunette whispers while trying to get some air, but it sounds more like a little moan.

"Mmmm?" Buffy's trying to do the same thing. The light kissing from a few minutes ago has turned into a heavy make out session "Ya're really getting' me all kinds of worked up" she explains while panting a little.

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. It's actually a wicked good thing… And I can tell you're as bad as I am"

"Yeah, kinda…"

"We're still taking this slow though, right?"

Buffy nods after a few seconds of thinking, and Faith smiles and gives her a short kiss on the lips "Then turn around…" the blonde frowns but does it anyway, and immediately can feel Faith hug her from behind and kiss her shoulder before resting her forehead against it "There's no way we can do that if we don't stop makin' out right now" Buffy giggles a little and nods her head "Good call…" she says, stroking Faith's hand that's resting on her stomach.

"Night, B…" another kiss on Buffy's shoulder.

"Good night, baby…" the blonde mumbles and immediately falls asleep with the same smile on her face that Faith has on hers.


	7. Barefoot & Screaming Like a Crazy Person

**Author's note #1: **I'm aware that I made what you (_close observer_) might call "a mistake" in this chapter with the time continuity, but you should know that it wasn't a mistake. I deeply apologize, but it was the only song that fitted PERFECTLY, so I had to… I Promise to be on my most OCD meticulously self right after this chapter.

**Author's note #2: **The song is P!nk's "Walk of Shame"

* * *

**Chapter 07: Barefoot and Screaming Like a Crazy Person**

"Oh, my God! This is too good to be true!" Anya yells as she passes Buffy, running as fast as she can on her Louboutin's pumps, on the parking lot of the building towards the elevator. She pushes the button and jumps in as soon as the door opens, leaving behind a very startled and confused blonde "Hey! Could've waited for me!" she yells to the closing doors.

The elevator door on the 19th floor opens and Anya runs out of it with her pumps on her hand now "Willow! Willow, come here! Come here RIGHT NOW!" she throws her purse, shoes, keys and jacket over the nearest desk, pushes the man sitting there aside and starts typing and looking for something on his computer.

Hearing the screams the redhead comes out of her office "What?! What happened?! Are you hurt?"

Xander runs out of his office too to see what's happening, and now the whole floor is looking at Anya who just found on the computer what she's been looking for. She looks at the redhead frowning "Why would I be hurt and call for you?"

"I don't know, Anya! Why would you come here running barefoot and screaming like a crazy person?" Willow says.

"Good question" Anya grins "So, anyway, here's the thing: Buffy's doing the walk of shame, right here, right now!" she looks at the elevator and can see the numbers starting to change on the little screen above it. After leaving her there it went all the way down, like she knew it would. It started at '-2' and now's moving up, so that mean's Buffy's on her way. '-1'…

"What are you talking about?" Xander's the one to ask now stepping closer. Now Lauren stands from her desk and looks at Anya smiling.

Anya takes a deep breath, looks at the little screen again and sees the number '2' flashing on it, and starts talking as fast as she can "She left early yesterday with Faith. She wouldn't come back, even when I called her like… six times! A very cool black car just dropped her off at the parking lot. I could see Faith was driving it while she kissed her goodbye before Buffy got out of it, even with the roof of the car up. And she's clearly wearing Faith's clothes with the same shoes she had yesterday! I really, really, hope she borrowed some underwear, too" she finishes and takes another deep breath "Lauren, you know what to do!" she yells to the girl, who smiles, nods and runs to the wall that holds a panel full of buttons and switches. She presses on down on a button and a buzzing can be heard through the sound system that reaches the whole 19th floor "Perfect!" Anya yells. Then she turns around just in time to see the number '18' on the little screen, so she hits 'enter' on the computer's keyboard, and as the elevator doors open on the 19th floor, music breaks through the sound system and Xander, Willow and Lauren start grinning while Anya runs to welcome Buffy at the elevator.

'_One step, two steps, counting tiles on the floor. Three steps, four steps, guess this means that I'm a whore. Oh oh, hell no, how long till I reach the door? Fuck me, my feet are sore'_

Buffy takes two steps out of the elevator while taking her sunglasses off and suddenly stops hearing P!nk's song and seeing everybody there, literally everybody, looking at her. She shakes her head "You guys suck SO MUCH!" she yells over the music blushing furiously and covering her face with both hands. Then everybody laughs and Anya, Lauren, Xander and Willow start singing along at the top of their lungs _'I'm wearing last night's dress and I look like a hot ass mess... Although my hair looks good 'cause I haven't slept yet!'_

"Oh, my God! I can't believe this! I HATE YOU GUYS!" Buffy yells again.

Now the entire floor's singing along and Anya's starting to do funny dance next to her _'Make the elevator come a little faster. I'm pushing all the buttons but nothing's happening. Please, God, don't let anybody see me... Please, God, I'll do anything you ask me... I promise no more walks of shame'_

Buffy takes her hands off her face while shaking her head and starts walking to her office, just in perfect timing with the song _'So walk this way (We're walking, we're walking). Walk this way (We're walking, we're walking)' _and giving Anya the opportunity to escort her while singing.

She reaches her office and goes straight to sit behind her desk, leaning her elbows over it and covering her face with her hands. She can still hear the song playing and out of the corner of her eye, between her fingers, she can see Anya, Willow, Xander and Lauren ridiculously dancing a few feet away from her door. All four of them facing her, clearly for her to see.

She lets out a little laugh and yells "There's no tramp stamp!" after they sing a line that says something about that. Now she's really laughing when she sees and hears her friends singing _'Ok, now raise two hands if you've ever been guilty'_ the four of them immediately raise their hands up in the air at the same time, and some of the people on their desks do it too _'And clap, clap, clap, clap it out if you've walked with me'_ and all of them start clapping. She can see someone else walk in and join them clapping with her hands in the air and starting to dance too. She shakes her head laughing very hard and leans back on her chair still watching the five of them dance.

About a minute later the song ends and they all stop dancing and are laughing really hard. Lauren gives her a little bow and goes to the panel on the wall to turn off the speakers. The other four go inside her office "I can't believe you just joined them…" Buffy says looking at the tall brunette girl with big blue eyes that just arrived.

"What? I've done the walk, so I had to clap!" the girl says, sitting on the couch laughing.

"I really didn't need to know that about my little sister" the blonde at the desk says shaking her head.

"I'm twenty-four, Buffy. I've had sex, you know?" Dawn explains, for her sister's horror.

Buffy covers her ears "Oh my God! Shut up Dawn!" all four of them in the office start laughing "Where did you shamelessly came from, anyway?" Dawn asks her sister raising an eyebrow.

"Faith's hot ass" Anya answers smirking.

"Oh, shut up!" Buffy glares at her.

"What? I just saw you get out of her car after sucking face with her! Sweet ride, by the way, very sexy. Must be a chick magnet"

"Anya, please shut up! My little sister's here!"

"I'm sorry to break this to you, buy have you seen your 'little sister'? Her boobs are bigger than yours!" Anya says pointing at the girl sitting on the couch, who smiles and nods her head in agreement.

"Anya, I'm saying this with all the love in my heart: get the hell out of my office!" then she glares at Willow and Xander "And I can't believe you two took part of this!"

"It was too good to let it go!" Willow says chuckling.

Buffy laughs "You suck, you know that?"

"Yeah, and apparently, Faith does that too…" Anya says before running out of her partner's office. Willow and Xander laugh and follow Anya outside, and Buffy can hear Xander asking Willow "Buffy and Faith? What the hell? Did you know about this?! Why am I always the last one to find out about everything?"

Dawn hears them too and laughs "So… I take it you've already knew Faith was in the city?" she stands up and goes to sit in one of the chairs across her sister's desk. Buffy nods blushing "Came here to tell you the news, I just found out last night"

"I've found out about two months ago. You were away doing your residency in LA at the time…"

"So, is it true that you two were sucking face this morning?" Dawn asks chuckling and Buffy nods "You guys are back together?"

"Back?" Buffy asks playing dumb.

Dawn sighs "Please Buffy, I'm your sister… My room was just across from yours. Do you really think you guys were that quiet?"

Now Buffy starts blushing again "Oh, my God… What did you hear?"

Dawn gives her an evil smile "Yeah, something like that… A lot of moaning, a couple of 'oh yes Faith, right there', some grunting, and a few 'fuck, B, I'm coming'…" she laughs at Buffy's horror face "You must be really good in the sack, cause I remember Faith cursing like a sailor… Oh, and mom knew too…"

"Mom?!" the blonde starts panicking.

"Yes. For starters, she's not deaf, you know? And she knew even before either of you realized what was going on. Why do you think she treated Faith like a daughter?" she laughs as her sister's eyes keep getting bigger and bigger "She liked Faith a lot and always rooted for you two"

"Why didn't she say something?"

"She was waiting for you to tell her, but you never did. And then you went to college and broke up with her, so she never brought it up in case you were still upset about that" Dawn says with a sweet smile.

"How do you know about all this?"

"We talked Buffy, she told me not to ask you about it or anything. To give you your space and stuff, you know? That you would talk when you felt ready to… Took you TEN YEARS!"

Buffy sighs and leans back on her chair "Guess I'll have to talk to mom about it…"

Dawn nods her head and leans back in her chair "I'd say…" she pauses for a few seconds "So… You spent the night at her place?" she asks with a smile.

"Yes. But not like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like all of you think!"

"What do you think we think?" Dawn laughs.

"You wanna make me say it, don't you?"

"It's like Anya says, if you're having sex, at least you should be able to say the word"

"But I'm not…"

"What?"

Buffy sighs frustrated "…having sex. I'm not"

Dawn frowns a little confused "You spent the night but didn't had sex?" the blonde nods "And we're still talking about Faith, right?" Buffy nods again "How come?"

"We're kinda taking it slow…"

"Well, I'd say you're more than a decade late on that!" Dawn laughs "Why though? You've already dated and had lots of sex. More sex than a young, sensible teenager like me should hear through the wall" she laughs again.

Buffy laughs a little bit. She has to admit that her bratty little sister has grown to be a very kind woman and one of her best friends too "Yes, but it's been ten years, Dawnie. We're still the same people, and our feelings for each other apparently haven't changed one little bit for what we've talked, but a lot of things happened in those years…"

"So you have to get to know each other a little better because of what could have happened to you over those years…" Dawn says nodding in understanding and Buffy smiles "…how's Faith taking this slow thing?"

"Actually, very good. She really surprised me. I thought she was gonna try to make a move or something, but she didn't… She even stopped me sometimes when I got a little caught up in our make out" she says smiling.

"She's all grown up then. She was one horny chick!"

"Hey!"

"What? You know I'm right… I could hear some of the things she used to say to you while you were doing it… She was a talker!"

"Dawn, please. I'm already extremely embarrassed… Don't make it worst"

"Ok, ok… So how are you? Cool with taking it slow? I guess it's been a while since…" she points with her index finger at her sister's middle area making a circular motion "…anything's been going on in there"

"Oh God, I can't believe this…" Buffy covers her face with her palms and can hear Dawn laughing.

"C'mon! I'm your sister! I care about you…"

"And I care about you too, but I don't wanna know what's been going on in there!" the blonde says now pointing at Dawn the way the brunette just pointed at her.

"That's because I'm your 'little sister'… Believe me, once you hear some stuff, you can't just un-hear them. After a while you just get used to it…" she smiles "…and besides, I can tell you as a professional that keeping an active sexual life is extremely healthy. As long as it's safe. It's really good for you and your 'lady parts', as you like to call them"

Buffy laughs "Don't worry, I'm not getting any but I'm still healthy. My doctor takes good care of me"

"I'm sure she does" her sister winks at her "It was just some professional advice, feel free to do whatever you want with it"

The blonde laughs again "I'm really glad you're back, Dawnie" she reaches out and takes her sister's hand that's resting over her desk.

"Me too. I've missed you guys like crazy!"

"So… What about you? Are you seeing someone?"

Dawn shakes her head "Not right now. I was in LA, but he turned out to be kind of a jerk"

"How come?"

"He couldn't keep up with my crazy hours and started to freak out. We weren't even that serious, but he thought I was cheating on him, even when we never talked about being exclusive, and started to drop by the hospital to see if in fact was working like I said and not sleeping with somebody else…" she laughs "…he really freaked me out and I told him to hit the bricks"

Buffy laughs a little "Asshole…"

"Yeah… he was really hot though, and crazy good in bed…" Dawn shrugs "…anyway!"

Buffy clears her throat loudly "So, you're staying here for good?" she asks, changing the subject.

Dawn nods with a smile "Yeah, I start Monday the last year of my residency at Mount Sinai" she says casually.

"Are you serious?!" her sister asks with a huge smile and she nods "Oh my God, I'm so proud of you Dawn!" she stands up "Come give me a hug!"

Dawn stands up and hugs her tight "Thanks" she says smiling and they sit back down after a few seconds.

"You said you found out about Faith last night?" Buffy asks.

"Oh, yeah! I went to this restaurant called 'Five by Five'. Janice's working there, you know? She's the bartender. She told me to go, said the food's amazing" she sees her sister nod with a smile "I went and stayed at the bar with her while she worked, so we could catch up a little bit. Have you been there? The place's really cool! It immediately reminded me of Faith, and not only because of the name, but the vibe was…"

"Yeah, I know what you mean… I've been there, didn't know Janice worked at the bar… didn't see her. Actually I think they mentioned the bartender's name was Jenny"

Dawn laughs "Oh, yeah, that. Well, turns out Janice gets laid A LOT thanks to that job. So we can say that Jenny's her stage name… or alter-ego! That's the name she gives to the chicks she takes home. By the way, Janice, totally gay" she pauses and Buffy laughs "Anyway, when I arrived she told me that the chef has just called and said that she couldn't make it that night and the sous-chef was in charge" she sees Buffy blush "Now I know why the chef couldn't make it. And by the way, Faith's a chef? How cool is that?!"

"Believe me when I tell you, VERY"

Dawns chuckles a little "I stayed anyway, and that sous-chef must be very good too, 'cause everything was perfect. Janice introduced me to this very sweet blond girl, the owner…?" she asks.

Buffy nods "Yes, Tara… She's a sweetheart. Faith's best friend"

"Yes, Tara. And she told me about Faith and apologized for her absence that night. Janice told me after we left that the chef was 'Faith, my sister's friend'…"

"She remembered Faith?"

"Yeah…" Dawn shrugs "…maybe she used to have the hots for her or something"

Buffy glares at her "I hope she didn't"

"I don't think so… If she did, she must've already slept with her. I don't know how she does it, but 'Jenny' gets any girl she wants…" Dawn says teasing her sister.

The blonde folds her arms across her chest and frowns at her little sister "I don't think Faith would have fallen for that…"

Dawn starts laughing "Don't worry, she didn't. I'm just teasing you, Buffy. Of course I asked! You can breathe again…" she laughs "…where are you standing on this whole new thing? Whatever it is…"

Buffy relaxes a little and shakes her head "I don't know… You should have seen her, Dawnie. She's so sweet and loving. Yesterday after she made me lunch we talked for hours… and then she told me that from the moment she gave me a ride home two months ago she knew she never got over me. That after all this time she's still in love with me. And probably will always be…"

"Wow… really? That doesn't sound like Faith at all…"

"Not the Faith you guys know… That's 'my' Faith. And this morning she woke me up and made me the best breakfast I've ever had while I showered"

"Aaaawww, you guys are so sweet!" she chuckles "And you? Are you in the same place?"

"Yes. That night when she took me home after dinner I couldn't deny or ignore it anymore. I've always been in love with her. That's why none of my relationships ever worked out… I got tired, bored, and none of them were Faith so I just wasn't interested. Willow helped me see that…"

"You have no idea how glad I am for both of you, Buffy" Dawn takes her sister's hand "Do me a favor?" when she sees Buffy nods her head she says "Don't screw it up… neither of you. There's no reason now for the two of you to be apart. You both moved and started your business here in the city without even knowing about the other. I don't usually like to use the word 'destiny', but maybe that bitch has something to do here…"

"I know… And I won't" Buffy smiles.

"And please talk to mom. I can't wait for her to find out!"

"Ooohhh… I have an idea!" Buffy says with a big grin.

"What?"

"Wanna take mom and Giles out for dinner tonight?" she asks still grinning.

Dawn starts grinning too "That would be awesome! I haven't seen Faith in so long!"

"I'll talk to Faith, you call mom and tell her we're going out tonight, but nothing more!"

Dawn nods enthusiastically "Ok! I've gotta go now, but I'll call her as soon as I get on a cab!" she stands up and goes to give her big sister a hug "See you tonight!"

"Take care Dawnie, I love you"

"Love you too! Bye!"

Buffy takes her Blackberry out of her purse as her sister leaves her office, unlocks it and after finding Faith's contact she starts typing 'Hey baby, r u busy?'

Less than a minute after that her cell phone starts ringing and the caller ID flashes the name 'Faith'. Buffy answers with a big smile on her face "Hello?"

"Hey, I just got a text from this number. Is this that gorgeous blonde I woke up with this mornin'?" she can hear Faith's cocky smile in her voice.

"Don't know, I was too busy making out with this really hot brunette chick"

"Smartass…" Faith laughs "Is everything ok?"

"You love it" Buffy laughs too "Everything's fine… Are you working tonight?"

"I do. And I am. Why? Ya coming?"

"Eventually…" the blonde says smiling.

"Don't tease me over the phone, B. I can be over there in 10 minutes"

"That won't be necessary, but thank you…"

"Ya took care of it already?" again with that cocky smile.

Buffy gets an evil smile on her face that Faith can't see "Yes" she just says, and there's a long silence on the other side of the line "…Faith?" still silence "…Faith, baby? Did I just break you?"

"You're so gonna pay for this, B…"

"I certainly hope so, but that's not why I texted you" she laughs and makes Faith laugh too.

"Tell me then, babe"

"Dawn's back in the city and we wanted to take mom out for dinner tonight. Do you know any good restaurant?"

"Ya know? You're really starting to hurt my feelings" the brunette tries to sound serious, but Buffy can hear through her voice that she's smiling.

"I'll kiss it and make it better later… But for now, you guys have a table for tonight?"

"I'll hold ya on that one… 'course we do for you. How many?"

"Four"

"Wow, I haven't seen your mom or that little brat in so long… "

"Well, you'll see them tonight"

"Great! What time?"

"I was thinking around eight, is that ok?"

"Five by five… I'll let T know right now"

"Thank you sweetie"

"Ya're very welcome"

"Oh! And Dawn kinda knows about us now, but mom doesn't, so it'll be some kind of surprise…? Turns out both of them knew we were dating back in Sunnydale"

"…how?"

"Mom knows us too well… and also, there's the fact that they heard us having sex. A lot."

"Please tell me you're kiddin'…?"

"Sadly, I'm not"

"Oh, fuck…"

"Yeah… But, on the bright side, mom and Dawn really like you, so they were kinda rooting for us. Dawn still is. Haven't talked to mom about it yet"

"Ok, this is a lot to take in, I'm kinda mortified, ya know?"

"I know, same thing happened to me. And be thankful you got the censored version from me. Dawn's was extremely explicit and embarrassing"

"I really need to hang up now, I think I'm gonna be sick… see ya tonight?"

"Yes baby, take care… See you tonight"

"Bye babe"


	8. Some Kind of Lame Sexual Harasser

**Chapter 08: Some Kind of Lame Sexual Harasser**

"Ok, guys! Lineup!" Faith shouts to her staff, leaning back against one of the stainless steel counters. All of them quickly gather up around her as she starts explaining how the night's gonna go "Evening, guys… Sorry I wasn't here last night, hope chef Cassie took good care of you" she starts with a smile, and all of her staff smile back at her and nod their heads "A'ight, let's make this a short one 'cause I'm in a good mood. First of all: Jonathan, Shannon…" she turns her head to look at both of them with a little smile "…wicked job the other night. Ya both hung on the line big time, I don't forget about that" she turns to look back at all of them "And yes. Even when you think I don't, I notice each and every one of you. Amanda, keep up the good work you've been doin' and I'll make sure to pull some strings and getcha what ya want after you graduate" she smiles and winks at the young girl, who grins in return "Ok, now! Samples and specials are over that counter, y'all know what to do after lineup" all of them nod again "We're gonna mix things up tonight. That being said, you can start preppin' your stuff and station when I call your name" she looks around with a satisfied smile on her face "Chef Jonathan, Shannon, you'll play together again" then she points to the counter that's next to hers "I want ya close to me tonight, 'k?" both Jonathan and Shannon nod their heads enthusiastically and move to the counter Faith just pointed at "Amanda, you're with chef Colleen tonight" she looks at the young girl pointedly "Be sure to listen, pay attention and use this opportunity to learn from her…" she then looks at the slightly shorter than her, slender, dark haired chef named Colleen "…she's as good as they get" the other chef thanks her the compliment with a little smile and Faith smiles back "I want you both on the far back, your usual spot, chef. Ya know what to do" Colleen smiles again and puts a hand on Amanda's shoulder, starting to guide her to the back of the kitchen "Oh! And chef? I'd really appreciate if you'd take Amanda under your wing…?"

"Don't worry, chef. Already on it" Colleen turns her head to look at her and both chefs exchange a knowing nod.

"Now… Chef Robin, you're with Molly tonight" she looks at the tall man, who nods his head and walks with Molly to their spot.

"Great! Now I'm stuck with the spazz!" a tall woman laughs, patting the blonde, young guy that's standing next to her on the back "Hey!" he looks at her offended.

"Just kidding, spazz!"

"Chef Faith!" the guy whines looking at her, and Faith burst out laughing "Don't laugh!" he tries again, and now Cassie starts laughing too "Oh, c'mon!" he folds his arms a glares at the three women.

"Ok, sorry, sorry" Faith apologizes, trying to stop her laughter and lifting her hands in the air "Chef Nikki, don't make fun of the spazz" she manages to say before bursting out laughing again.

"That's SO unprofessional! I'm not-!" he starts, glaring at her.

She smiles and interrupts him "I'm sorry, Andrew. You're not a spazz. Chef Nikki, be nice to him"

"I'm just kidding, chef!" the woman places her hand on Andrew's shoulder, squeezing it affectionately "I'll take good care of him"

"I know you will"

"I'll be waiting over there for your apology" Andrew says and turns around dramatically before walking away from them.

Nikki chuckles and looks at Faith "You couldn't just see me happy with Amanda, didn't you?" she asks with a big grin, letting her know she's just kidding.

"Nuh-uh" the brunette shakes her head "Had to mix things up a little. He's a good and very hard working guy, play nice, chef"

"I will, don't worry" she turns around to join Andrew, but stops mid-step and looks back at her boss "You have my emergency contact, right? In case he sets me on fire or something…"

"I HEARD THAT!" Andrew yells horrified "Why do you women have to be so mean to me?"

"We're very sorry, Andy!" Faith shouts at him laughing again, before turning to look at Cassie, who's leaning against the counter right next to her "Whaddaya think?"

"About?" the girl asks, looking around the kitchen to all the couples starting to set up their stations and talking casually.

"The game change"

Cassie looks at her with a little smile "Necessary" she turns and takes another look around the kitchen "Very interesting, too"

Faith nods her head smiling "Hope this works out"

"It will, just relax"

"How come you never mix things up for you, chef?" they hear a deep male voice and turn their heads a little to their right to look at Robin, who's tying his apron around his waist and smiling at them. When Faith sets her eyes on him, he just looks at her and winks "Maybe one of these nights I can-" he starts.

Faith interrupts him right away "Please, don't finish that sentence, dude" she glares at him, and Cassie turns around in her spot, not looking at him anymore "There's a line, right before being disrespectful. Don't cross it" she sighs and shakes her head at him "You know very well that I'm not interested. I've told ya that already. And it's not just YOU, it's your fuckin' gender. So give up already, dude, 'cause that's never gonna happen" she finishes with a deep frown on her face, before turning around to start prepping her station next to her sous-chef, leaving the kitchen in a complete awkward silence.

"WOODY GOT BURNED!" Andrew shouts after three seconds and all of them burst out laughing again.

"You're a cool weirdo, Andy" Faith chuckles and shakes her head. After a few minutes she looks at Cassie again, frowning in concern.

"You ok, chef?"

Faith leans a little closer and whispers "Too hard on him?"

Cassie chuckles and shakes her head 'no' "Hard enough" she whispers back.

"Ya always gonna give me those shorts answers?"

The blonde girl shrugs and smiles "You knew that from the day we met"

"I did, you're right"

"You need a more… elaborate answer?"

Now's Faith's turn to shrug "Maybe…"

"Right" Cassie laughs briefly and takes a deep breath, before leaning closer to the brunette "Look, if it was ME he was coming on to every single week, I'd have my boyfriend kick his sorry ass like a month ago. He's a good guy, but… Well, I think he's, like, in love with you, or something. He wouldn't be so persistent if he wasn't" she gives her an apologetic look "Maybe you should talk to him. Really sit him down and talk. I don't think Buffy would appreciate the fact that you have some kind of lame sexual harasser in your kitchen every single night"

* * *

Buffy and Dawn are waiting all dressed up at the door of the restaurant for Joyce and Giles to arrive. They're still talking, trying to catch up on things they're definitely not gonna be able to talk about in front of their mom, and Dawn's really enjoying the fact that Faith was a little mortified when Buffy told her how they knew about them.

A cab pulls up in front of them and Joyce and her husband step out of it and greets them with big hugs "I've never been to this place, what is it called?" Joyce asks as they start walking to the door "Five by Five" Dawn answers.

Joyce frowns a little while thinking hard "Where did I hear that before?"

Both her daughters shrug their shoulders and exchange a little smile. Buffy's the first to go inside, followed by Dawn, then Joyce, and Giles "Buffy! It's so good to see you here again!" Tara approaches them "It's really good to see you too, Tara" then she steps aside a little "This is my sister, Dawn. My mom, Joyce. And my 'kinda dad', Rupert, but we call him Giles" Tara shakes hands with all of them "Giles is my last name, the kids got used to it" he explains in his very British accent a little embarrassed. Tara smiles at him and nods her head "It's really nice to meet you all. Welcome to Five by Five. Let me walk you to your table"

They start following the blonde to Faith's favorite table. Buffy makes sure to sit on the side that faces the kitchen and Dawn sits next to her. She can see Cassie working over the counter by the large glass door, but Faith's not by her side, like she always is. Then she scans the kitchen and spots her in a few seconds thanks to her tall hat. She hears her mother talking and takes her eyes off the kitchen to look at her "How did you find this place? It's really nice. It makes me feel young again" the woman says laughing.

"The owners are our clients" Buffy says with a smile.

"And Janice's bartending here" adds Dawn nodding at the bar, where the blondish-redheaded girl waves at them.

A young, good looking waiter approaches their table, but before he can say anything a young waitress takes him by the arm and pulls him away from the table. He looks at her like she's crazy and Buffy can hear her say "Chef Faith sent me to this table! Go get the others, this one's mine"

"Why?" the waiter asks and the girl mumbles something to him but she can't hear it. He lifts her gaze looking at the kitchen. Buffy follows his gaze and can see Faith now standing next to Cassie glaring at him, pursing her lips and shaking her head 'no', while the sous-chef is clearly laughing. He groans and walks away and the waitress approaches their table "Hello, my name is Chloe and I'll be your waitress tonight"

* * *

After taking their orders the waitress leaves the table and Buffy takes out her Blackberry and types 'What was that all about?' and hits send.

She looks to the kitchen and can see Faith take her iPhone out of her pocket, read her text and then reply 'He was gonna hit on u. I heard him talking about it with some other waiter. He's an asshole'

The blonde at the table laughs a little loud after reading the text "Buffy, it's very rude to be texting at the table"

"I'm really sorry mom" she puts the device back on her purse "It was important"

"Ok… But we're having a family dinner, can you stay with us?"

"Of course! I won't touch my phone again" Buffy says with an apologetic smile.

"Thank you. And what's going on in the kitchen that you keep looking at it every three seconds?"

Buffy and Dawn smile and the younger says "Turn over and see for yourself"

Joyce sighs but does it anyway, just in time to see the very attractive head chef look at her with a dimpled big smile and wink. She frowns a little "Who's-… Is that Faith?" hearing her, Giles turns around as well "Yes, Indeed. She is" he says with a smile. Then both of them turn around again to face Buffy and Dawn "Did you know she worked here?" Joyce asks with a big smile "I haven't seen that girl in years! Since you went to college" she says looking at Buffy, who blushes immediately.

"She doesn't JUST work here" Dawn says "She's head chef and co-owner. Tara's her partner. It was a surprise"

"Oh, I'm so glad for her!" Joyce says putting a hand over her chest and then quickly looks at Buffy "Do you think she can come over here and say hello? I really want to give her a hug" both her daughters and her husband laugh a little "She doesn't come out of the kitchen while she's working, says it has something to do with hygiene or something… I don't know what it is…" Buffy says and shrugs her shoulders.

"She's a freak, you can tell" Dawn says looking at her sister "All their clothes are supposed to be extremely clean, including their shoes. If she comes walking out here she can carry an incredible amount of bacteria back to the kitchen. They sure have some place to change in the back before going in there, right?" Buffy nods "How do you know all this stuff?"

"Look at her staff" all three of them do "They're all using the appropriate hats covering their hair, which I'm guessing those also show their levels of hierarchy, since Faith's the tallest. Their clothes are impeccably clean, and all of them are wearing their aprons and appropriate shoes. Luckily for us, that means Faith's a huge pain in the ass about hygiene in her kitchen and tries to keep the ins and outs to a minimum with only the waiters and waitresses going in"

"Hey!" Buffy says without realizing it "I mean, yeah, of course… That'd be it"

Dawn laughs "And I'm supposed to know all that stuff about food related bacteria. You guys remember what I do for a living, right?" she adds helping her sister a little.

"Well, that's too bad. I wanted to say hello" Joyce says a little disappointed.

"We'll stay until closing. Then she'll come out and you can say hello. How does that sound?" her oldest daughter says.

"That would be lovely, Buffy. Thank you"

* * *

It is closing time already and 'Jenny' just left with some girl who has been waiting for her outside for the last twenty minutes. Cassie comes through the staff door, again with her hair wet in a ponytail. She looks over at the table and sees Buffy "Hey! Buffy, right?" when she sees her nod her head Cassie smiles at her "It's good to see you here again" then looks at everybody else "I'm Cassie, and I hope you all enjoyed your dinner" all four of them nod, smile and thank her "I'm very glad, have a good night" then she straps her knife bag across her chest and leaves the restaurant to meet a tall, blonde man waiting for her at the door. They share a short kiss and start walking hand in hand.

Tara comes out of the staff door "Faith will be right out. She's still in the shower. Can I get you something else?"

"No, dear, thank you" Joyce says with a big smile before taking a sip of her coffee "So, you're Faith's partner?"

"Yes, and best friend" Tara puts some emphasis on the last word, just in case.

"Please, join us" Joyce says and Giles immediately stands up to grab a chair and pulls it to the table "Where did you guys meet?"

"Thank you" Tara says smiling to the man before sitting on the chair "We met in college"

"Roommates?" Dawn's the one who asks now and Tara nods her head "Yes" she smiles "We would have either killed each other or become best friends. Luckily, it was the second"

"Faith can be a handful, huh?" Joyce asks smiling.

"Oh yeah…" Tara and Buffy say at the same time, then look at each other and laugh. Joyce looks at her oldest daughter with a smile and is about to say something when the staff door opens and the brunette steps outside now dressed in jeans, black Converse and a gray tank top "You guys talkin' about me behind my back? How rude is that?" her hair is still wet and in a high ponytail. As soon as she hears her voice Joyce stands up and turns around to hug her really tight. Faith raises her eyebrows in surprise while looking at Buffy's amused smirk for a second over the woman's shoulder, but then she relaxes and hugs Joyce back.

"How are you dear?" the woman asks her while pulling back from the hug and putting both her hands on the brunette's shoulders "I'm very good Joyce, thank you. It's so good to see you again" Joyce gives her a warm smile and lets go of her shoulders. Faith looks at Giles, who's pulling another chair towards the table "Giles…" the man looks at her with a warm smile and she hugs him just like she hugged Joyce, which surprises Buffy a little. She never knew they were that close.

After breaking the hug Faith looks over at Dawn, who's still sitting and looking at her with a little evil smile "Ya still a brat?" Faith asks with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"Are you still an ass?" Dawn asks laughing.

"Yeah, kinda… I'm chef Ass now, actually"

"Good. I'm Doctor Brat" the she stands up laughing and wraps Faith in a tight hug.

"Wow, you got so tall brat…" Faith says while hugging her back "…and you're a doctor? How can that be? You're like twenty-three or something!" she asks as they pull back from the hug. Dawn nods smiling and blushing a little "Just turned twenty-four... And I'm kinda smart"

"Congrats kid, I'm really proud"

"Thank you" she's still blushing as she sits back down.

Then Faith looks at Buffy with a smile "Hey, B"

"Hi…" the blonde says back, but neither of them moves, and it's getting a little awkward. Dawn and Tara look at each other and start laughing.

Joyce glances at Faith and her oldest daughter. Then sighs and shakes her head smiling "Oh, for God's sake! It couldn't be more obvious even if you tried!" now she laughs "If you're back together just… kiss already or something!" everybody laughs now "Ok, now I feel a little on the spotlight" Faith says with a sheepish smile and starts blushing. She straps off the knife bag and leaves it on top of a table nearby "Be right back!" then starts walking to the bar to get a beer, but before she can get there a hand on her forearm stops her and spun her around startling her "What the f-" but she's immediately cut off by Buffy's lips on hers. She kisses the blonde back and feels her back being pressed against the bar while Buffy's tongue brushes lightly over her bottom lip and the blonde's hand goes to the back of her neck. After a few seconds they pull back from the kiss and Buffy looks over at the table "You meant something like that?" she asks looking at her mother and Faith starts blushing again.

Joyce giggles like a little girl and nods her head, while Giles looks extremely uncomfortable and starts cleaning his glasses "Yes. And you have no idea how happy I am right now. Even after seeing my daughter acting all… well, for lack of a better word, horny"

"Eeewww, mom!" Dawn makes a face, grossed out.

"Oh, please! I've seen you do a lot worse WITH a lot worse!" the woman says looking at her youngest daughter "At least I like Faith…"

"Thank you" Faith says while reaching for a much needed cold beer and handing Buffy one too.

"Yeah, mom, thank you" Dawn says sarcastically folding her arms over her chest.

"You're both welcome"


	9. That Was Definitely Muscle Memory

**Chapter 09:** **That Was Definitely Muscle Memory**

"So, are you bringing Faith tonight?" Joyce asks her daughter over the phone.

"Mom, I already told you I'm not" Buffy's on her cell phone leaving her office.

"Why not? I want her to come!"

"Because you always say something and makes us, and when I say 'us' I mean 'me', feel extremely uncomfortable!"

"I invited Tara too, and she said she's coming. And I don't do that, Buffy. Don't you think you're overreacting a little?"

"I'm not! And of course you do that! All the time!"

"Well, it's been three months! How could I've know you've never talked about it? I assumed you already did"

"That's it… you just assume things!"

"Well I don't care. It's my promotion party and I want her here. So if you don't invite her, I will. And I have her number young lady. Don't you think for a second that I won't do it!" Buffy groans loudly and sees Faith's car pulling up at the entrance of the building "I heard that. You have one hour. If you don't call or text to tell me she's coming, then I'm calling her. Understood?"

Buffy walks to the car and sighs again before opening the passenger door "Yes mom"

"Good. I love you. Bye"

She gets in the car and closes the door "I love you too, mom. Bye" and lets out a frustrated groan.

Faith laughs "'sup?" she asks looking at the blonde.

Buffy turns a little and looks at her "I'm twenty-eight years old and my mother still bosses me around… You're coming to my mom's party tonight"

"Cool" the brunette says with a full dimpled smile, pulling the car into the street.

"Cool?" the blonde looks at her in disbelief.

Faith lifts up her sunglasses pulling them over her head holding her hair back. She briefly looks at Buffy and then at the street again "Well, yeah… I don't hafta work tonight, and I like your mom" she pauses and frowns "Why? You don't want me to go?"

The blonde leans into her and gives her a little kiss on the cheek "First of all: hi baby" then smiles when she sees Faith smile "And of course I want you there" she pauses "It's just… Well, actually, it's because of what she did last time…"

Faith frowns a little lost "What did she do?"

"You seriously don't remember?" she asks and sees Faith shake her head 'no' "She started asking a lot of questions in front of everyone, and she introduced you to her friends as 'Faith, Buffy's girlfriend'…?"

"So…?"

"What do you mean 'so?'?" the blonde repeats the word a little more high pitched than intended "We haven't even had that talk. Or done… some other things…" she trails off. She hears Faith laugh and resumes what she was saying "And she's already telling everyone she knows that you're my girlfriend"

Faith chuckles and looks at the blonde briefly again "Believe me; I KNOW we haven't done 'some other things', B" she chuckles again "So, you wanna have 'that talk' before we go there tonight?"

Buffy thinks about it for a few seconds and shrugs "I don't know… Maybe?"

"Ok, let's have that talk then…" she smiles widely and stops at a red light, taking that time to look at Buffy in the eye "B, wanna be OFFICIALLY my girlfriend?"

The blonde looks at her "Just like that?"

Faith shrugs smiling and the car starts moving again when the red light turns into a green one "Well, yeah… I mean, it ain't more complicated than that if ya really think about it. You either wanna, or ya don't" she pauses still smiling "So, you wanna…?"

The blonde starts smiling and nods her head "Of course I do"

Another red light and the brunette looks back at her with a big full dimpled smile on her face and leans in to kiss her hard on the lips "Well, that's it then" she takes a turn when the light turns green and puts on her sunglasses back again when she focus her eyes back on the street "You look amazing, by the way…"

"Thank you… And I can't believe how simple everything's to you"

"Things ARE that simple, B. People just like to fuck things up and make a drama out of everything. That's all. I like it simple and I keep it that way. I really want to be with you, Buffy… So why should that be complicated?"

The blonde scoots closer to Faith and rests her head on the brunette's shoulder, who gives her a little kiss on the forehead "You called me 'Buffy'…"

"Well, that's you name, isn't it?"

"Yes, but you never call me that…"

"Yes, I do. When I'm dead serious about something"

Buffy smiles and kisses Faith's neck lightly for a few seconds "We're gonna crash if you keep doing that…" Faith says in a low voice before clearing her throat and the blonde chuckles "Sorry"

"So, what do you think I should get your mom?"

"You don't have to get her anything… I already did"

"But that's yours… I want to get her something"

"She already told everyone she knows that you're my girlfriend. Now that's actually true, so she can't say anything if we get her a joined 'promotion gift'... I'm not sure that's even a thing, but whatever" the blonde says laughing "You're giving her a very happy daughter. That should be more than enough"

The brunette laughs "Remember that for when your birthday comes" she says starting to pull into the parking lot of a building.

"Oh, no… You're so gonna get me something for my birthday. You have to spoil me, you know? That's what girlfriends are for"

Faith laughs "That's what girlfriends are for? Just that…?" she asks in mock anger while parking and turning off the engine.

"Well… I can think of a few other things too…" the blonde says and leans in again to start kissing Faith's neck now that they're parked and there's no chance to crash.

The brunette lets out a low moan and inhales sharply when Buffy scraps her teeth against her throat "B?"

"Mmmm?"

"What time do we have to be at your mom's?" she asks half talking, half moaning.

She keeps kissing Faith's neck "Eight" she mumbles.

Faith looks at her watch and sighs "Babe, it's seven already"

Buffy suddenly pulls back from her "Already?!" the brunette nods her head "Crap! I still have to shower and get ready" she shouts while opening the car door and jumping outside.

"She's so fuckin' crazy" Faith whispers to herself shaking her head and smiling while she opens the door and gets out of the car.

Buffy's standing by the entrance of the building looking at her girlfriend "Faith! C'mon! Hurry!" she shouts, and the brunette closes the distance between them with a little run "I can't believe I'm already whipped. I'm supposed to be a badass, ya know?" she says as both of them step into the elevator, making Buffy laugh.

In a few seconds they reach Buffy's floor and the blonde opens the door to her apartment and practically runs inside throwing her purse over to the couch and kicking her shoes to the side "You know where everything is, just help yourself to anything you want!" she shouts while running into her bedroom. Faith laughs again and closes the front door behind her. She sits on the couch and turns on the TV "We're so gonna be late…" she says to herself.

After a few minutes her iPhone start ringing startling her, and she takes it out of her pocket and looks at the screen 'Joyce Summers' "Joyce!" she says picking up "Yeah, she told me. Thanks for inviting me" she pauses as Joyce speaks "She must've forgotten to tell you, but yes, of course I'll be there" she laughs "Yeah, I'm actually waiting for her to get ready and we'll be on our way" she smiles a little "Ok, I'll let her know. See you in a little while"

"Who was that?"

"Holy fuck!" Faith jumps when she hears Buffy's voice "Jesus B! You Summers women are gonna kill me one of these days!" she says putting her right hand over her chest while turning around to look at the blonde "And it was your mom…" she trails off.

"Oh, crap! I forgot to text her that you were coming. She threatened me with calling you herself… Guess it wasn't only a threat… Faith? Baby? Are you ok?"

Faith's looking at her with her eyes wide open, and then Buffy realizes that she came out of her bedroom showered and wearing only her black 'kinda sexy' underwear and Faith haven't seen her like this in more than ten years. And a lot has changed in ten years. She smiles and can see the brunette gulp loudly "Are you ok?" she asks again.

"Yeah, yeah!" she says forcing her eyes away from Buffy and looking at the TV again "Sorry about that… It's just-"

"Baby, it's ok. I'm sorry I came out like this, I swear I didn't think"

"Nothing to be sorry about… It's just… You know… It's been a long time..." the brunette starts to blush and has her eyes fixed on the screen.

"I know…" Buffy says with a smile "I'll go get dressed"

"Sounds like a plan… And you're so fuckin' hot!" she says starting to relax now that Buffy's again in her bedroom getting dressed.

"I'm really glad you still think that" she can hear the blonde shout from the bedroom. She also can hear drawers sliding open and then close and shoes being thrown.

Faith smiles to herself and puts the TV on mute and turns around to look at the door the blonde just went in "You're… kinda different than I remembered"

"Bad different?"

"Wicked amazingly different!" she can hear the blonde chuckle.

"Well, I think I was still 'developing' at eighteen" she pokes her head out of the doorframe so Faith can't see the rest of her body "…and so were you"

"You've seen nothing yet, B" she winks at the blonde, who smiles and shakes her head before going back in to get dressed.

After a few more minutes Buffy comes out of the room all dressed and with her hair and makeup done "How do I look?" she asks.

"So fuckin' hot" Faith says standing up from the couch and walking to her girlfriend. She wraps her arms around the blonde's waist and kisses her lightly, but before Buffy can return the kiss she breaks it "We're already late"

The blonde looks over at the clock on the wall "Crap! Ok, can you get the present?" she says pointing to a box over the coffee table. The brunette nods her head and while she picks it up Buffy gets her jacket, purse, Blackberry and keys.

"Ready?" Faith asks and the blonde nods her head "After you then…" she says motioning toward the door.

About twenty minutes later Faith's parking her car in front of Joyce's building and looks at the blonde sitting next to her with a smile "You ok?"

Buffy smiles back at her and nod her head "Yeah…"

"So… Wanna go inside?" Faith asks laughing when the blonde doesn't show any sign that she'll be moving out of the car sometime soon.

"Oh! Yeah, I think we should…" she still doesn't move.

"Wanna start by opening the door and getting' out?" now the brunette's chuckling "Seriously B, you ok?"

Buffy blushes furiously "Yes. Now let's go" she opens the door and gets out of the car. Faith does the same and they start walking to the building "You're gonna have to tell me what's going on, you know that, right? Not now, later" Faith says when they reach the elevator.

The blonde smiles and gives her a little peck on the lips "I know. And I will. Later"

The elevator reaches Joyce's floor and both of them get out of it as soon as the doors open. They enter the apartment without even knocking and are immediately received by Giles "Buffy, Faith, I'm so glad you could make it" they exchange a few words and soon Joyce comes to their side and gives them each a big hug "Hi, mom" the blonde says hugging her back.

"Hello honey" she looks at Faith then "I'm so glad you came" she says with a sweet motherly smile that makes the brunette blush a little "Ok girls, there's a few drinks over there…" she points over to a table filled with glasses and bottles and then to another one filled with food "…and there's some food on that other table. Help yourself to anything you want" she gives them another hug and kiss on the cheek and turns around to go talk to one of her friends.

"I don't like it when she talks about me…" Buffy says, taking her girlfriend's hand, and starting to walk to the drinks table.

"How do you know she's talking about you?"

"I'm not even looking at her and I can tell you she's talking about us to her friend" The brunette turns around to see the woman and her friend looking at them with smiles on her faces "Oh, great… now I feel all serf conscious and shit"

"That's what these are for" Buffy says handing her a bottle of beer "Cheers"

Faith laughs and takes it with a "Thank you"

The blonde stands on the tip of her toes and whispers brushing her girlfriend's ear with her lips "Don't get too drunk, though. You're driving and I'll need you sober tonight"

A shiver runs through all Faith's body and she smiles "You're such a tease…"

"True…" Buffy takes a sip of her drink "…but I'm not just teasing this time" she winks at her girlfriend and immediately turns around and hugs her sister when she hears her voice "Hey Dawnie!"

* * *

After a few hours the party's over and Dawn, Buffy and Faith are helping Joyce and Giles with the cleaning "Thank you for this, girls. But really, you can go home. It's getting late"

"We're almost done. We can handle it from here. Thank you very much for helping" Giles throws some paper cups into the trash can. All three girls look at each other and Buffy nods her head "Ok, we'll leave you alone for your own private party…" she winks at Giles and the man gets extremely uncomfortable. Dawn and Faith start laughing and soon the three of them are out in the elevator.

"Want a ride, brat?" Faith asks once they're on the sideway.

"No, thank you. You guys go. I'll take a cab. I'm not going home yet. I'm meeting Janice and some friends at this new club…"

"I can drop you off there, are you sure?"

Dawn nods and hails a cab that's passing by "Yes, go have some fun yourselves" she winks at her sister and then gets on the cab that immediately takes off.

"Well, let's go then, B. I'll take you home" she opens the passenger door for the blonde to get in the car and goes around to the driver's side. She buckles her seatbelt and starts the car "We're not going home" Buffy says smiling at her.

The brunette frowns and looks at her "Where are we going then?"

"Your place. It's closer"

"Well, yeah… But I was gonna give you a ride first…"

The blonde laughs and shakes her head "We're both going to your place, Faith" she says smiling while her girlfriend keeps frowning confused "But how are you gonna get home if- Oh…" Faith pauses remembering a few things Buffy told her over the night and then smiles "…my place it is then"

Buffy relaxes into her seat as Faith takes the car into the street "I thought you didn't have ADD…"

"Don't be a smartass, B" the brunette says with a little smile.

Buffy laughs and start stroking the back of Faith's head with her left hand knowing that her girlfriend loves that "What is it that you had, though? You never told me…"

Faith looks briefly at her and starts blushing a little while shaking her head "Come on, what was it? You know you can tell me anything…" the blonde insists.

Faith sighs "It wasn't something I had…"

Now is Buffy's turn to be confused "I don't follow…" she says frowning "Should I be worried or something?"

This makes Faith laugh a little "No, B. There's no reason for you to be worried…" she leans her head a little more against the blonde's hand who smiles and start scrapping lightly her girlfriend's nape with her nails "I… kinda have a…. um, high IQ…"

Buffy looks at her wide eyed and with a smile "Really?" Faith nods her head 'yes' and the blonde smiles wider "Like, how high?"

"Like one hundred and sixty three"

There's a few seconds of silence and Faith turns to see Buffy's face and she can see the blonde grinning "What?"

"That's really impressive, you know that, right?"

"Well, yeah… I have the IQ to kinda notice that"

Buffy chuckles "How come you didn't say anything?"

"There was nothing to be said" she shrugs her shoulders.

"When did you find out about that?"

"College. I was getting bored as fuck and they made me take a lot of tests and shit… Tara was the first to notice that maybe that was the deal with me, so she suggested I took those tests"

Buffy nods her head "That's amazing"

Faith shrugs again "At least they got off my back and I finally figured out what the deal was"

"So, my girlfriend's like super smart?"

Faith laughs and shakes her head "She just has a high IQ"

"So yeah, she's super smart" the blonde starts ginning some more "That's kinda really hot, you know?" she leans closer and starts nuzzling Faith's neck while still scraping her nape. After a few minutes she feels the car slow down and then hears a gate open but doesn't move. Then she hears Faith's voice "B? We're at my place already"

She leaves a short kiss on Faith's neck and then pulls back "Mood killer" she says with a smile.

"We can stay here if you want, but your back will be killing you tomorrow"

"No, it's ok… I actually love your bed" the blonde says and winks at her before getting off the car.

The brunette smiles and immediately follows her, and a few minutes later they're inside her apartment. As soon as Faith closes the door behind her Buffy presses her body against hers, pushing her back to the door, and starts kissing her neck again. The brunette holds her girlfriend tightly by the waist with her left arm and takes her right hand to the back of Buffy's head keeping her in place "Oh God, B" the blonde starts scrapping her teeth against her throat "Fuck!" Faith takes a deep breath and lifts the small blonde by the waist with her left arm, who immediately understands and wraps her legs around the brunette's waist and bites down on her earlobe making her growl a little.

Faith holds her tightly and starts walking to her room, with Buffy's legs still wrapped around her, while taking off her own jacket and tossing it to the floor. Once inside she closes the door, without turning on the lights, and turns around to press the blonde's back against it.

"Hey! That was my move!" Buffy says with a little smile still with her arms and legs around her girlfriend.

Faith chuckles a little "I stole it" she says before kissing her while helping her take off her jacket. They start making out and after a few minutes Faith starts unbuttoning the blonde's shirt "You ok?" she asks when they part to get some air and Buffy nods her head. She finishes unbuttoning the blonde's shirt and helps her take it off while starting to kiss her neck and collarbone "Oh, God…" the blonde pants and Faith smiles to herself and bites down a little "Fuck! Faith…"

"What?" the brunette mumbles still smiling to herself and now going with her mouth to the other side of Buffy's neck. The blonde sighs and start lifting up Faith's t-shirt and takes it off completely. She tosses it to the floor and tangles her fingers again in the brunette's hair pulling on it lightly every time she feels a little bite on her neck or collarbone. She takes one hand out of Faith's hair and searches for the light switch on the wall. It doesn't take her long to find it and she turns the light on, making both of them close their eyes to the sudden brightness and start laughing. After a few seconds the brunette looks at her with a questioning look "I want to see you" Buffy explains.

The brunette nods and smiles "Good, I want to see you too" she says stroking lightly Buffy's back and giving her a short kiss on the lips "It's been more than ten years, you have no idea of how much I've missed you, Buffy"

The blonde smiles "I missed you too, baby" and then something in a mirror caught her eye "Is this another one?" she says touching Faith's back on the right side and leaning forward to see it over her shoulder. The brunette takes advantage of this and starts nipping on the blonde's shoulder while talking "Yes"

Buffy traces the pattern with her fingers "What is it?" she half asks, half moans.

"A phoenix"

The blonde gulps loudly and pulls on Faith's hair a little, making the brunette pull her head back and taking the opportunity to start kissing her again. She can feel Faith's hand sneaking its way to her waistband between their bodies and unbutton her jeans. She looks at the brunette in the eye and nods to the bed smiling. Faith smiles backs and nods, while turning around and walking to the bed. She lowers the blonde onto it on her back and kisses her lightly "Wait a sec" she says and leaves a very confused blonde on the bed. Then she goes to her nightstand and turns on both lamps, and then turns off the light switch on the wall, giving Buffy a perfect view of the phoenix tattoo while doing it "Those look so hot on you…" she hears Buffy say and smiles while walking back to her "You have no idea how glad I am you think that" she says while reaching down and taking the blonde's shoes off and then kicking off hers. Both of them keep smiling while the brunette lowers herself back on top of her girlfriend and starts kissing her again.

After a few minutes Buffy feels Faith's hand sneaking its way again between their bodies and smiles when that hand starts pulling down her jeans. She uses both her hands and quickly unbuttons the brunette jeans and starts pulling them down. Faith stands up for a second and helps the blonde take off her jeans, but before she can pull hers off Buffy sits on the bed and puts her hands over hers "Let me do it" she says looking at her in the eye and smiling. Faith smiles back, nods her head, and watches as the blonde starts kissing and nipping at her stomach and the little new tattoo she just discovered still half covered by the brunette's underwear, while pulling down her jeans "Fuck, B… You're amazing…" she says and steps out of her jeans and kicks them to the side. She sits straddling the blonde, who starts stroking her back and kissing her collarbone and the top of her breasts "I've missed you so much, Faith"

"Me too, babe" Faith grinds lightly her hips against the blonde stomach making her moan a little "You have no idea, B" she smiles hearing the blonde moan "I've never forgotten how good you felt, though"

Buffy shakes her head "Me neither" and at the same time and without saying a word both of them unclasp with one hand each other's bra and start giggling "Are you reading my mind or something?" Faith asks and Buffy shakes her head 'no' and says "Maybe this is some kind of muscle memory…?" the brunette smiles at her while taking Buffy's bra off "Yeah, maybe…"

* * *

"Oh my God…" Buffy says between heavy breaths. She's lying on her back with her left arm over her eyes covering them and her right stretched out with her hand resting on Faith's stomach.

The brunette's also lying on her back by Buffy's right side holding her head with her right hand and stroking Buffy's right hand that's lying on her stomach with her left one "Yeah…" she says with a big smile still panting a little. Both of them are slightly covered and a little tangled on the loose sheets.

"That was…" the blonde takes her arm off her eyes and turns her head to the side to look at Faith with a big smile.

"That was definitely muscle memory!" the brunette chuckles turning her head to look at her and making the blonde laugh.

"Yeah… but amplified" she lets out a long contented sigh "You are amazing, you know that?"

Faith chuckles a little "Thank you, but I can't take all the credit… I have the best and hottest girlfriend. That's what happens when two people click the way we do, B" she stretches her left arm out "C'mere"

Buffy looks at her with a smile and scoots closer. She kisses her girlfriend briefly before resting her head on Faith shoulder and snuggling into her. The brunette leaves a little kiss on Buffy's forehead and sighs smiling while holding her tightly.

"Faith…?"

"Mmmm?"

The blonde looks up into Faith's eyes that are looking at her with a little concerned frown and smiles at her "I love you"

Faith's frown disappears immediately and it's replaced with a big smile "Love you too, Buffy" she gives the blonde's forehead another kiss "Always have" the blonde snuggles even closer to her still smiling "Try to get some sleep, B. The sun's coming up and I remember how cranky you get when you don't get any sleep"

"I could never get cranky after a night with you" the blonde says, but she closes her eyes anyway and the brunette laughs a little "You used to-"

"Sshh, Faith. Sleepy time now" Buffy sighs and immediately falls asleep with a big smile on her face followed closely by Faith.

* * *

Buffy wakes up to the morning light coming through the windows and the soft sound of water running that's coming from behind the closed bathroom door. She slowly opens her eyes and waits for them to adjust to the light, and while she does that she can hear the sound of the water suddenly stop. After the few seconds her eyes take to adjust to the brightness she takes a look around the room and gets a big smile on her face when she remembers what happened "Oh, God…" she whispers to herself while stretching a little bit. She's still tangled in Faith's sheets and all her clothes have been picked up from the floor and placed neatly over the couch that's by the window. Then the bathroom door opens very slowly and she turns to see her girlfriend standing there, leaning against the door frame in nothing but her underwear, with a huge smile on her face "Good morning, twinkie" Faith says and starts walking to the bed "Sleep well?" she asks when she reaches her side of the bed and sits down facing the blonde.

Buffy nods her head a stretches a little more "Best sleep I had in so many years" she takes the brunette's hand on her own "You baby?"

"Top five of the best nights of my life…" Faith says with a smile.

"Top five? Not the best?"

The brunette thinks for a few seconds "Definitely top five… But you might like to know that all five of them include you" they both laugh a little "I would say that it was the best, but I don't want all other nights we had to feel excluded"

"You're a dork" the blonde says still laughing.

She leans down and kisses her girlfriend on the lips "Wanna go get a shower while I make ya breakfast?"

Buffy nods her head "You should've waked me up though. I could have helped you in there" she says with a little suggestive smile and Faith chuckles a little "I have to admit I thought about that, but you looked so peaceful that I couldn't do it. I can help you though, if ya want…" at that exact moment the blonde's stomach rumbles loudly and both of them laugh "I think your stomach wouldn't like that" the brunette says still laughing and making Buffy blush a little. She kisses the blonde again for a few seconds "I'll go make something to calm that beast…" she says pointing at Buffy's stomach "…you go hit the shower and I'll be waiting for ya, 'k?"

The blonde nods her head and sits up wrapping the sheet around her "Now you get all shy and self conscious?" Faith ask with a cocky smile and Buffy blushes again "Shut up" the brunette chuckles again a kisses her hard until the blonde pushes her away a little "Faith I have morning breath! That's so gross!"

"Oh, please! That's so stupid. You know I've never cared about that"

"But I do… And as you just said, I'm all self conscious now…"

"Ok, ok… go get a shower, I'll take that self consciousness away right after breakfast" she winks at the blonde and stands up from the bed. Buffy stands too and starts walking to the bathroom still wrapped in the sheet "I'll leave some clothes here for ya, ok?" she asks pointing at the bed. The blonde nods her head with a smile "Thank you, baby"

"Think of me when you're in there!" Faith shouts to the door once the blonde gets inside and closes it "I will!" Buffy shouts back and they both laugh.

Twenty minutes later the blonde comes out of the bedroom now showered and dressed only in a white tank top and shorts, to find her girlfriend placing two plates full of food on the table, along with some coffee and orange juice "That smells so good, Faith" she says with a big smile, which Faith returns immediately "Hope it tastes as good as it smells then" she answers while taking a seat.

"I'm sure it does… It always does with you" the blonde winks at her with a big smile and walks to the table, but instead of sitting on the chair next to Faiths, she sits on her girlfriend's lap. Faith holds her by the waist with one hand and places the other one over the blonde thighs, while Buffy puts her arms around her neck and starts kissing her slowly for a few minutes, until her rumbling stomach interrupts them again "Ok, let's get you something in there so it'll calm down" the brunette says chuckling. Buffy laughs too and gets up from Faith's lap to sit on the chair that's next to hers "This looks amazing, thank you baby" she says looking at her plate and then taking a sip of coffee with a low moan.

Faith takes a bite from her plate and smiles "You're the first, you know?"

The blonde swallows the food she was chewing and looks at her "Yeah, I know, you're mine too, remember? Wait… What are you talking about?" she asks when she sees Faith's amused smile.

"Well, yeah… You know you were my first a long time ago B, but I mean this…" she says looking at the plates over the table.

"What? Breakfast?" Buffy asks and takes another sip of coffee trying to wake up a little more to understand what Faith's talking about.

"Yes" the brunette sighs "You're the first one I've ever made breakfast to" she explains and blushes a little. Buffy frowns and takes another long sip of coffee but before she can ask, Faith keeps talking "I never used to stick around long enough for breakfast to be an issue. I was the 'get some, get gone' kinda chick… You're a lot of 'first' now that I think of it"

Buffy smiles at her "Like what?" she asks in a girly voice that lets Faith know that she's proud of the fact that she's 'the first one' on more than one thing and takes another bite of her delicious food "Well, you're the first one I've ever brought here to my place. So you're also the first one to be with me in that bed…" she says pointing towards the bedroom door "…and the couch… and the wall… and all the other places where we had sex last night" she chuckles a little and Buffy does too "You're the first one to spend the night here, and get a shower, and use my sheets and my clothes, and have breakfast… I mean, this kind of breakfast" she says "I had breakfast with Tara here many times before, but she's like a sister to me…" Buffy nods her head and smiles again "And you're the first and only one I've ever fell in love with"

"You're so cute when you blush like that" the blonde says with a big smile causing Faith to blush even more "Don't tease me, B!"

"I'm not teasing you! I'm just stating facts" she leans closer to her girlfriend "And I'm very glad I'm all of those firsts… You know what I would love even more than that?"

"What, babe?"

"To be the last one, too"

"Aaaww, ya're so cheesy, B!" Faith chuckles and pulls Buffy up by the waist and sits her on her lap again "Don't tell anybody…" she whispers by the blonde's ear "…but I would love that too"

Buffy turns around a little to kiss her girlfriend and after a few minutes of making out a thought pops into her head "So… How many 'get some, get gone' situations are we talking about?"

"Some…" Faith says as casually as possible and takes another sip of coffee.

"C'mon, tell me" the blonde insists, shifting a little on Faiths lap to face her.

"Why do ya wanna know?"

"I just do" Buffy pouts a little a looks at Faith in the eye.

"Aaaawww, B! C'mon, not the pout"

"That many, huh?" the blonde asks with a smile and Faith lowers her head a little embarrassed "Yeah…" she says still looking at her girlfriend's lap "…but I'm not proud of that"

"Faith, look at me"

The brunette hesitates about doing it for a few seconds, but she does when she feels Buffy's hand lifting her chin to look her in the eye "I don't care about any of that…" she hears her girlfriend say with a sweet smile "…as long as it's in your past and chicks don't come to you all flirty and stuff" she adds laughing at the last part. This makes the brunette laugh a little, too, and it lightens the mood "I can't guarantee that 'cause I'm clearly hot as fuckin' hell, but I can assure ya I won't flirt back. Is that good enough?"

Buffy nods her head still smiling "That's good enough for me. But if those chicks get their asses kicked after that, I won't know a thing about it"

Faith laughs and kisses the blonde sitting on her lap "Fair enough"

"I have one more question" the blonde says with a little smile and Faith nods her head and gives her a short peck on the lips "Shoot"

"That other tattoo… the one on your right hip…" she trails off and the brunette gets a little smile on her face "Mmmhhh?" she urges the blonde to continue "What is that? I mean, I know 'what' it is, but… Is it… you know…?"

"B, I have no idea what ya're trying to ask. Can you be a little more specific?" Faith laughs and lightly strokes the blonde thigh with the tip of her fingers.

Buffy sighs and gets a little smile on her face "I remember that little heart with a pointy thing drawing"

"You do?" the brunette asks a little surprised and her girlfriend nods her head "Yeah, it's the one you drew for me on the window that time I was in class…"

"Then you know what it is" Faith says with a sweet smile.

Buffy looks at her straight in the eye with a smile and starts lightly scraping her nails on Faith's nape "Is it because of me?" she blushes lightly after asking that.

"I drew it for ya, didn't I?" she chuckles a little "Of course it's because of you, B"

The blonde gets a huge smile on her face "When did you get it?"

Faith thinks for a few seconds "About eight or nine years ago"

"Really?" Buffy asks wide eyed and Faith nods her head "A year into college or so, after we stopped seeing each other in Sunnydale"

Then the blonde gets a little sad frown on her face "Did you ever regret getting it?"

"Not even for a second"

"Not even after we grew apart?"

Faith smiles again and shakes her head 'no'. She holds the blonde a little tighter against her body and kisses her cheek "I even got it re-painted like two years ago 'cause the ink was starting to fade a little"

"Don't take this the wrong way or anything, 'cause you have no idea how good it felt to see it last night and now knowing that it's there because of me, but why did you kept it? I mean, we haven't seen each other in so long. We didn't even speak on the phone by that time and-"

"And that's exactly why I got it, B" Faith interrupts her with a smile and can see the blonde's confusion on her little frown, so she decides to explain "Even back then I knew you were the best thing that was ever gonna happen to me and I didn't want to forget that. Ever. So I got a little reminder. I see this every day…" she says placing her hand on her hip over the spot where the tattoo is "…so it means that I get to see every day how much I love you and you mean to me" the blonde puts her hand over Faith's one on her hip and smiles "And if you ever say a word to anybody about how girly that is, I'll deny the whole thing and kick your ass" she adds chuckling and the blonde nods her head before kissing her.


	10. Red's Playing Footsies with Me

**Author's note #1: **Club fight: any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental.

* * *

**Chapter 10:** **Red's Playing Footsies with Me**

"Xander gonna be there?" Faith asks over her cell phone while entering her office. She waits for the answer on the other side of the line and sighs "Why not?" she fumbles with some clothes she's taking out of a duffel bag "Gimme a sec, B. I'll put you on speaker" she takes the phone off her ear and touches something on the screen before leaving it over her desk "Why do I have to be on speaker?" Buffy's voice can be heard coming from the phone and the brunette laughs "'Cause I just got out of the shower, I need to get dressed and I only have two hands"

"I hate hearing my own voice"

Faith laughs and starts to pull up her jeans "Maybe if you made your point instead of complaining about hearing your own voice you wouldn't have to hear it so much, blondie"

"Shut up" Buffy giggles a little knowing that her girlfriend is right "Why do you want Xander being there, anyway?"

"Because the three of you are too girly!"

"Last time I checked you were a girl too"

"Oh yeah, and you checked so well…" the brunette laughs while sitting on the couch to put on her boots.

"You know what I mean!"

"Yeah, and you know what I mean too… But anyway!" she stands up after zipping up her boots and puts a tank top on "You get all girly and stuff, and talk about chick shit and I get bored as fuck"

She can hear her girlfriend sigh "Please? Tara already said she's coming"

Faith sighs and after a few seconds asks "You finally learned how to decently drive?"

"What? Of course!"

"Don't 'of course' me, B! You know you were a shitty driver!"

Now's Buffy's time to sigh "Yes, Faith. Giles taught me how to 'decently drive' many years ago..." she says making emphasis on those words "...and I don't fumble with the stereo anymore while driving"

"Fine… We'll be there in a little while. But you owe me, B. Big time. And I'll get super wasted and you'll drive me home"

Buffy laughs a little "You've got yourself a deal"

"Wicked! Ok, lemme go find T and we'll be there. Get me a beer!"

"Ok, see you soon! Bye!"

"Bye B" she touches the screen on her phone again and then picks it up and puts it in her front pocket. Before she can go out looking for her best friend she sees her standing at her door "Ya ready?" she asks and Tara nods her head "Let's go"

They close the restaurant and walk to Faith's car "You already knew we were going out, didntcha?" Faith asks glaring at the blonde while unlocking her car. Tara smiles but doesn't say anything as she opens the passenger door and gets inside "You knew, that's why you didn't brought your car tonight" Faith keeps talking while starting her car.

"If I've told you sooner you would have came up with some kind of excuse to ditch us 'cause you get bored with the 'girl talk', even when I tell you that's not gonna happen"

"You don't know that, you haven't been around B that much"

"But you have, and still stick around. So how bad can it be?"

Faith glares at her for a second "I hate ya"

Tara starts laughing "No. You hate that I'm right"

"Same thing" the brunette says and tries not to smile but can't hold it for very long and ends up smiling a big dimpled smile.

A few minutes later they pull up and park a block away from a club. Both of them get out of the car and start walking to the entrance. The big man dressed in black standing at the door smiles when he sees them come closer and both of them return the smile "Hey! My favorite girls! How've you been?" he asks while lifting the red rope for them to get in "We've been very good, Forrest. How've you been? How's your sister doing?" Tara asks still smiling at him and Faith's eyes shot wide open and discretely elbows her friend hard in the ribs making her flinch a little.

"Good, she's a lot better, thank you" he smiles sweetly at her and then looks at Faith "Long time, no see" the brunette smiles at him "Been busy, big guy" she winks at him and he snorts "Yeah, I figured"

"I'm really sorry though, ya know?" the brunette says seriously.

The man get serious too "I know" then he smiles at her "You don't have to be anymore though. Everything's good. I'm not gonna lie, I really wanted to kill you, but not anymore. So we're good Faithy. Now go inside and both of you have a good time" he moves to the side and Faith pats him on the shoulder before following Tara through the door. They enter the club and walk to the far back where the tables are and immediately spot Willow and Buffy sitting at one of the tables side by side talking over a few drinks.

"Hey, ladies. Can we buy you some drinks so we can get laid tonight?" Faith asks when they reach the table. Buffy laughs and Willow shakes her head with a smile. Tara takes a sit in front of the redhead and laughs at her friend "I'm pretty sure you have a girlfriend somewhere…" Buffy says smiling and Faith takes the only free seat, that's on Tara's left and across from Buffy, and sits down "…and we already have some drinks, but thank you" Willow adds and then looks at Tara with a little smile.

"So, where's my beer?" Faith asks looking at her girlfriend. At that exact moment a blonde waitress approaches them with two bottles of beer and leaves them on the table while giving Faith a little smile that the brunette reciprocates with a little fake one.

"I'm sorry, you were saying…?" Buffy gets a smug smile on her face and looks at Faith making her laugh "Oh, you think you're so cool"

"I know I am"

Faith smiles at her while taking her bottle and handing the other one to Tara. Both of them take the cap off at the same time and clink the bottles together with a laugh, before taking a long sip, while Buffy and Willow look at them with amused faces "What?" Faith asks when she sees the looks they're getting.

"Nothing…" Willow says and gets a little shy smile on her face.

"Seriously, what?" the brunette asks again frowning.

"It's nothing… We're not used to seeing you act all best friendly relaxed and stuff…" Buffy says looking at them "Most of the time we see you together is at the restaurant, dinner, or our office… This is a little different and you two are so cute"

Tara laughs and her best friend frowns "We're so not cute" the brunette says a little offended and finishes her beer "We're two hot chicks… with superpowers!"

"Oh, really? And what's your superpower?" Willow asks and Faith gets an evil smile on her face while she puts her empty bottle down on the middle of the table. She looks briefly to her right and a few seconds later the same waitress approaches the table again with two glasses. She places the one with some ice and amber colored liquid in front of Faith and the one with ice, some lime and transparent looking liquid in front of Tara and goes away "Telepathy" the brunette says with a cocky smile.

"You suck so much, Faith" Buffy says folding her arms across her chest and frowning.

"What did I do?!" she asks surprised looking at her girlfriend.

Buffy glares at her and takes a sip from her pink-very-girly-looking drink "You made me almost beg you to come here tonight. Now all of a sudden the waitresses here all know what's your drink?!" then she looks at Tara "And yours?!"

"Hey! No one had to beg me!" Tara says with a little lopsided smile and Willow laughs. Buffy glares at her too for a few seconds but Tara just smiles at her raising one eyebrow "That's right… Ok, you're off the hook" she says and the looks at Faith "But you…" she trails off glaring at her again.

In one quick movement Faith gets up from her chair, leans over the table and kisses her girlfriend hard on the lips. She stays like that, not moving for a few seconds until Buffy relaxes a little and returns the kiss. And then they're slowly making out until willow clears her throat a little louder than normal. They part and Faith sits back down with a smile on her face "Sorry about that…" she says looking at the other two girls on the table. Tara looks at her and snorts before taking a drink from her glass and both of them start laughing "I swear you two are so weird…" Buffy says and the four of them are laughing now.

Faith finishes her drink and after a minute a different waitress is at their table handing her another glass "Hi Faith!" the girl says and Tara chokes on her gin and tonic and starts coughing.

Faith lifts her gaze and looks briefly at the girl "Hey…"

The waitress frowns a little but doesn't go away "How've you been?"

"Fine…" the brunette answers awkwardly, leaning back on her chair and taking a sip of her new glass of JD without looking at her. The girl sighs loudly and Faith flinches when she feels Tara kick her hard under the table "Fuck!" she mumbles under her breath and leans down to rub her sore leg while giving her friend a death glare.

Tara clears her throat and puts a smile on her face "Hi… Caridad, is it?" she asks a little unsure and sees the waitress nod her head 'yes' and smile back at her "How are you?" she asks politely.

"I'm ok" the girl says and glances briefly at Faith but then shakes her head and looks back at Tara "Glad to hear that" the blonde says still smiling "Can I ask you to bring us some tequila shots, please?"

"Sure… Four?" she asks looking around the table. Buffy and Willow nods their heads and Faith doesn't react at all, she's still looking at her drink "Six" Tara says. Caridad nods her head and turns around to go get their shots.

Tara leans closer to Faith "What is wrong with you?!" she asks in a low but angry voice, hoping the loud music will muffle her words so Willow and Buffy can't hear them "What was I supposed to do?!" the brunette says back in the same angry tone.

"I don't know. Maybe stop being an asshole, Faith!"

"You fucked her, didn't you?" they hear Buffy's voice and all three of them look at her and see her frowning. Willow and Tara look at her a little surprised by her choice of words, but Faith just looks her in the eye a little scared and nods her head.

Buffy looks back at her and after a few seconds gets a smile on her face "Faith, it's ok…" she reaches over the table and takes her girlfriend's hand "…we already talked about this, remember?" the brunette nods her head and intertwine her fingers with the blonde's over the table.

Just then Caridad comes back to the table with six shots, a little plate with lemon slices and a salt shaker. She looks at Buffy's and Faith's joined hands while leaving everything on the table and snorts loudly, getting a little glare from the brunette and an amused smile from Buffy "Thank you" Tara says trying to break the tension, and the girl nods her head and walks away "Ok, let's make this less awkward" she says and hands a shot to Willow and another one to the other blonde.

"How come we only get one?" Willow asks when she sees Faith take two of the shots and sliding the other two to Tara.

"You can barely handle one, Red" Faith chuckles.

"How do you know that? I could have changed over the years…" she trails off.

"Well, have you?" the brunette asks still chuckling.

"No" the redhead blushes and all other three of them start laughing.

After drinking their shots they start to relax a little more and to actually have a conversation. The first waitress approaches the table again to take the empty shot glasses and they all ask for some more drinks. Faith and Tara their usual JD and gin and tonic, Willow some kind of 'girly fruity drink' as Faith likes to call them, and Buffy's cutting it off and asks for some water. The girl leans down over the table a little for all four of them to hear what she's going to say "Sorry about Caridad, guys… I had to take a little break and she took over your table. She didn't…?" she trails off, afraid of talking a little too much.

"It's ok, don't worry about it. She didn't" Tara says with a reassuring smile but the girl looks now at Faith and Buffy "You guys ok?"

"We're good" Buffy says looking at her with a smile "And thank you"

"Ok, girls… I'll be right over with your drinks" she walks away to the bar, and a few minutes later comes back with the drinks on her tray. She places them on the table and leaves again "You're sticking with water?" the brunette asks Buffy with a grin while she sips her JD.

"Yeah, I'm your designated driver, remember?"

"You sure you'll be able to drive?"

"You are afraid I'm gonna do something bad to your precious car, aren't you?" her girlfriend asks with an amused smirk.

"No…"

"Of course she is!" Tara says gulps her drink looking at Buffy "She has never let me drive it. Not even once. Can you believe how fucked up that is? We've been friends for like… ten years!" she looks at Faith "You really suck sometimes!"

Buffy and Willow look at her wide eyed and start laughing "Maybe you should switch to water too…" Faith says looking at her friend and laughing too.

"I'm not drunk, just a little tipsy… And I'm not driving tonight" she grins widely.

Faith smiles at her and suddenly gets a little confused frown on her face. She shakes her head and laughs to herself. She looks at her girlfriend "I've never let her drive my car, that's true. I'm letting you, so if that's not trust, I don't know what it is, twinkie" Buffy laughs and gets a confused look on her face when she see her girlfriend frown again and look at Willow. She's about to ask what's wrong when a big grin breaks on Faith's face "So… How long haveya two been fuckin'?" she asks looking at Willow and then at Tara. She's getting a little drunk and her Boston accent is showing a little more than usual.

Tara chokes on her drink again and Willow's eyes are about to pop off her face "What?!" the redhead asks a little panicked.

Faith leans a little closer over the table "I'm sorry, maybe ya didn't hear me 'cause of the loud music… I asked how long have the two of you been fuckin'? Is that loud enough for ya, Red?" she gives her a full dimpled smile and leans back on her chair again. Buffy looks at her a little confused, but then gets a huge smile on her face when she sees Tara and Willow start blushing furiously "Oh my god! You totally are!" she says laughing.

"I have no idea what you're talking about…" the redhead says trying to sound serious and not panicky at all.

"You don't?" Faith asks looking at her with an amused half smile, giving her one last chance to come clean.

Willow looks back at her and shakes her head 'no'.

Faith gets a devilish grin on her face and leans a little closer over the table again so the redhead can listen what she's about to say "That's my leg, Red"

"OHMYGOD!" Willow shouts a little too loud and buries her face in her hands while Tara is looking at her in disbelief.

"What's going on?" Buffy asks a little lost.

Faith looks and winks at her "Red's playing footsies with me"

"OH MY GOD!" the redhead says again still covering her face with her palms. Tara looks at her and starts laughing very hard "Tara, don't laugh! I think I'm gonna die from embarrassment!" she shouts and not only Tara starts laughing harder, but the other two start laughing very hard too.

"No one has ever died from embarrassment, Will. I think you'll be ok" Tara says with a big loving smile on her face. She reaches out with her right arm to touch Willow's.

"Aaaww, look at that! Tara's a sweetheart!" Buffy says and start's laughing again with Faith. The redhead takes her hands off her face and glares at her friend, which makes them laugh even more "Oh, shut up! You both suck! And you could have moved your leg away! I've been doing it for a really long time now!" she says glaring at Faith now too.

After a few moments the laughter starts to die down and Faith takes the brief moment while they're catching their breaths to punch Tara in the arm "Ouch! What the hell, Faith?!" the blonde says rubbing her arm and glaring at her "Yeah, that's right! What the fuck, T?! You hooked up with Red and you didn't tell me?!" Faith asks a little pissed off.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Didn't know I had to check with you first to do whatever I want to do!" her friend says back and Faith glares at her some more. Buffy and Willow look at them wide eyed without saying a single word "Don't be a fuckin' smartass, you don't hafta, but we always talk about this kinda shit!"

"Yeah, right! If I hadn't asked and bribed you with a stupid cookie you would have never told me your history with Buffy!" Tara says nodding briefly with her head towards the blonde.

"Don't you fuckin' dare bring her up in this!"

"Hey, guys…" Buffy tries to interrupt but neither one of them are listening now that they're both angry. Willow puts her hand on her best friend's arm while shaking her head 'no' and the blonde understand the little gesture as a 'don't get involved' and leans back on her chair again.

"It's the same thing!" Tara starts raising her voice a little more.

"No, it's not! Ya know better than that! We're not just fuckin'! I'm in love with her!" Faith shouts to her friend and the vein on her forehead looks about ready to pop.

"Well, I'm in love with Willow, too! I'm not just fucking her, so shut the fuck up! You're an asshole, Faith!" the blonde shouts back and freezes immediately. Faith sees the look on her best friend face and freezes too.

The table gets completely silent while Faith and Tara exchange panicked looks.

"You're in love with me?"


	11. Such an Ass Kisser

**Chapter 11:** **Such an Ass Kisser**

"Oh my God…" Tara mumbles to herself still looking wide eyed at Faith as an excuse to not look at the redhead sitting in front of her "Fuck…" Faith says under her breath after fully realizing what just happened.

"Tara, please look at me…"

Tara slowly turns to look at her and immediately Buffy stands up from her chair "C'mon, you're dancing with me" she says holding her girlfriend by the writs and dragging her off the table and to the packed dance floor. Once they get in there Buffy leans against her and puts her lips close to Faith's ear so her girlfriend can hear her over the loud music "I think you really screwed up in there" she says and leans against a big column since neither one of them are actually dancing.

"I know" the brunette says nodding her head a little ashamed and leans closer to her girlfriend seeking some comfort "You'll really have to make it up to her" the blonde says leaving a little kiss on Faith temple and holding her by the waist "Not tonight, 'cause you both are pretty drunk, but maybe tomorrow…?"

"Yeah, I know…" she sighs still looking down frowning.

"…or maybe not" the blonde adds with a big smile.

Faith lifts her gaze and frowns at her, but then she turns around to look in the direction her girlfriend is staring, just in time to see that Willow is now sitting next to Tara, on the chair she just emptied thanks to Buffy dragging her to the dance floor. The redhead is leaning really close to Tara with her right hand on the blonde's cheek and she can see Willow's lips moving as she speaks. Then she sees Tara nod her head and both of them smile. After that nod Willow leans even closer and kisses her deeply.

"Yeah, I'm thinking maybe not…" Faith chuckles a little with the blonde.

"Is it weird that we're both staring at them while they're making out?" Buffy asks frowning after a few minutes when she realizes that.

"So weird" the brunette says and both of them start laughing "Think we should go crash their party?"

Buffy nods her head "Yeah, that sounds like lots of fun!" they start walking back to the table hand in hand and they reach it just in time when the two making out girls break apart "So, everything's cool…?" Faith asks startling both of them.

Tara glares at her and doesn't say a word, obviously still pretty mad at her, but Willow gives her a little smile and nods her head "Yes, Faith. Everything's cool"

Faith and Buffy sit back down at the table, but now that Willow's sitting next to Tara, they sit across from them side by side. The brunette's still looking a little guilty and every once in a while Tara would send a death glare to her without saying a word, that's slowly changing the guilty feeling into a very pissed off one.

"I need another drink" Tara says looking at the bar a gesturing to the waitress with her hand.

The girl approaches the table again "Yes?" she asks.

"I really need a refill" Tara says with a big sigh at the end.

The waitress nods her head and looks at the rest "Anyone else?"

"Yeah, me too" Faith says and looks at the girl "But make it neat and double"

"I'll have another one of this" the redhead says with a little smile holding her empty glass.

"I'm good, thank you" Buffy declines with a smile too holding her still half full bottle of water.

"Ok, I'll be right back girls" the waitress walks away and Tara glares at her friend again, who this time holds her gaze, while Willow and Buffy exchange a 'I-have-no-idea-what-to-do-to-cut-the-tension' kind of look.

It doesn't take long for the waitress to come back with their drinks, and as soon as she places them over the table both Tara and Faith drink half their glasses in one go, and go back to glare at each other. Buffy's about to say something to break the uncomfortable silence, but before she can do it Tara speaks up looking at her friend who's sitting across from her "That was very shitty of you. You're an asshole"

Faith inhales sharply and snorts "Yeah, 'cause it's my fuckin' fault you blurt out whatever's in your head when you're this fuckin' drunk" she takes another long drink from her glass "You can't blame me for all the shit ya do, T!"

"You've been doing exactly that for the past ten years!" now she takes another long drink "I've put up with your shit long enough. Who do you think cleaned up your fucking mess after you every single time? Your fairy Godmother?"

"And who the fuck asked ya to do that?!"

Tara frowns and looks at Buffy "I'm really sorry about what I'm about to say Buffy, this has absolutely nothing to do with you. I actually really like you" and when she sees the other blonde nod her head with an understanding smile she looks back at Faith and raises her voice again "What was I supposed to do when you fucked some random chick and took off? I'd came back to our dorm room in the morning and you'd be gone, and whoever you had hooked up with that night was still there waiting for you to come back… I had to clean up your fucking mess every time and tell those girls that you weren't coming back and that you didn't wanted anything to do with them" she finishes her drink "I've been the shoulder to cry on for all your stupid little fucks!"

"Right, cause you were a fuckin' virgin up until just now! You fucked up too, remember? 'Cause I do! You have no right bringin' all that shit now!" Faith shouts and slams her fist over the table "And in front of them? You're a fuckin' asshole, Tara!"

"Oh, really? I'm so sorry… Did I hurt your feelings, Faith?" Tara says in a soft tone and a sarcastic little smile, pissing Faith off even more "I have every fucking right to say whatever the hell I want!" she adds with another death glare "Have you even thought that maybe there's a fucking reason why I didn't tell you about Willow?"

Faith opens her mouth to yell something back, but she closes it when what Tara just said hits her brain, and frowns with a concerned look on her face. She cringes a little and asks in a soft tone "There is?"

Seeing the hurt and concerned look on Faith's face Tara's expression softens too and she sighs "Maybe…"

Faith leans closer to her resting her elbows over the table "Why?" she asks still with a hurt look on her eyes.

Tara looks at her and sighs again while leaning back on her chair and folding her arms across her chest "Because up until recently, everyone was just some 'good fuck' for you, Faith" she glances briefly at Buffy "Up until Buffy, actually" she relaxes a little more and sighs again "You were completely shut down emotionally, and I didn't want you saying something like that about Willow, or I would have had to punch you really hard on the nose"

Faith sighs with a little smile and relaxes. She looks at the blonde sitting across from her in the eye "Tara, you know me better than that. You actually know me better than I know myself, that much is clear considering our recent argument. I would've never said something like that about Red…" she gets an apologetic look in her eyes.

Tara sighs before finishing her drink and leaning a little over the table "I didn't exactly know that actually… You can't really blame me though. I love you to death, you know that, right? You're more than a sister to me… But I'm just getting to know this new Faith that's head over heels in love with someone, who's in a committed relationship, and that actually seems to understand the concept of romantic love. This is the first time that I've ever seen you like this. I didn't know any better… And I'm really sorry for underestimating you…" she finishes blushing a little bit.

Faith's expression softens completely a she gives her friend a big warm smile "Don't be, you're actually right…" she puts her hand over Buffy's thigh and gives it a soft squeeze. Buffy smiles at the gesture and puts her hand over her girlfriend's "I'm sorry for being such an ass… I would love to promise that it won't happen again, but I don't wanna lie to ya…" she chuckles a little and Tara does the same "Yeah, I know…" the blonde nods her head and laughs "…once an ass, always an ass…"

"You love me anyway" Faith winks at her.

"I do" Tara says with her usual warm smile.

"That's it? Just like that?" Willow asks in disbelief looking from one girl to the other and Buffy chuckles "I swear to God, you two are the weirdest chicks I've ever met"

Tara chuckles and leans to give the redhead a little kiss on her cheek "I'm really sorry about my vocabulary… I don't usually swear like that" she says blushing and looking first at Willow and then at Buffy.

"Unless she's fuckin' wasted…" Faith mumbles but all of them hear her anyway and laugh "And hey! You're not gonna apologize about that to me? I'm gonna rat you out on your mom if you don't" Faith says in mock shock.

Tara looks at her with a smirk on her face "No, you fucking deserved it, I'll tell her that if you do" she says and all four of them laugh. Willow puts her hand on Tara's back and starts stroking it up and down. The blonde smiles at her and leans a little closer to her so the redhead can wrap her arm around her waist.

"Did you just threaten her with telling on her mom?" Buffy asks her girlfriend in disbelief.

The brunette nods her head with a big smile "She'll get in trouble if I do. Her mom's the sweetest… She'll freak out if she hears that her precious daughter was cursing like a sailor. And yelling at me on top of everything!"

"Don't" Tara says seriously looking at her.

"Is she serious?" Willow asks with a sweet smile and Tara nods her head "I have no idea why, but my mom loves Faith" she explains.

"Maybe you can tell her she rubbed it off on you and that she's a bad influence…?" Buffy suggests and Faith pinches her thigh "You're supposed to be on my side, B!"

"Sorry baby…" she gives Faith a little peck on the lips "Why is that moms usually love you, tough? Mine too…"

"Uhm, 'cause I'm charming as hell?" the brunette says as if it is the most obvious thing in the world with a smug look on her face.

"Actually, she is…" Tara says looking at Buffy "She's a good, helpful, polite and charming little girl when she's around my mom…" then she looks at Faith "…she's such an ass kisser"

"Yeah, but just your mom's ass 'cause she's into that…" Faith grins and now's Buffy's turn to pinch her hard "Ow! B! It was a joke!" Buffy just looks at her with one raised eyebrow while Willow and Tara start laughing "I would never- Lily's the sweetest- How can you think that…?" she interrupts herself a few times and then trails off not really knowing what to say.

"Yeah, I think you broke her" Tara says looking at Buffy "She's your responsibility now"

Faith sighs defeated and looks at her girlfriend "Wanna get out of here?" she wriggles her eyebrows a little.

The blonde laughs a little and nods her head before looking at Willow and Tara "You guys are staying?"

The two girls exchange a look and Willow shakes her head "No, we're going too…"

Faith stands up, takes her car keys out of her front pocket and tosses them to Buffy, who catches them in the air "Be right back" she says and walks to the bar, leans over it and says something to the bartender, who nods with a smile. She takes a single shot that's resting on top of the bar near a girl and downs it in one quick motion. The man behind the bar laughs at her and pours another one and hands it to that girl sitting over there who just was the victim of the brunette theft. He reaches out with his right hand and Faith takes it on her own in some kind of 'cool shake'. While doing that she shouts something to the waitress who immediately walks to her. Faith takes something out of her back pocket and hands it to her and the girl smiles while she takes it and put in on her apron pocket. Clearly Faith just tipped her. They exchange smiles and the brunette turns around to walks back to her girlfriend and friends "Ok, let's go"

"Shouldn't we pay or something?" Willow asks while taking Tara's hand in hers.

Faith shakes her head "I told you, Red. Hot blondes and redheads never pay" and winks at her.

"So, that means you're always paying from now on?" Tara asks while the four of them start walking to the door.

The brunette hugs her girlfriend by the waist while they walk "Yeah. You both have your natural color, but since B dyes her hair, she has to pay me back later. Just not with money…" she jumps a little when Buffy slaps her ass before hugging her back by the waist and start laughing.

They go through the door, all four of them laughing, and Buffy turns around when she notices that the bouncer is looking at her with a weird look. She frowns a little while looking at him and Faith turns around to see what's going on just in time to see the man mouth something to her girlfriend that she didn't catch.

She sighs loudly "She's my girlfriend man, chill…"

"She is? Girlfriend?" he asks in disbelief looking at her. Then he looks at Buffy "You are?"

"I am" the blonde says with a little smile and holds her girlfriend tightly.

Both Willow and Tara turn around too and stand behind the two girls watching the little scene. Willow's looking a little confused, but Tara's quietly listening, getting ready to break a fight before it starts. It wouldn't be the first time something like this happens.

"And you know her, right? How she rolls…?"

"For fuck's sake, man! What's with the cock block?!" Faith asks starting to get irritated and tries to take a step towards the big man, but Buffy holds her tight and starts stroking her waist calming her down a little "I've known her for over twelve years" she says with a smile.

"And you're still around?"

"What the fuck is wrong with you dude?!" Faith angrily shouts at him.

Buffy gets a cocky smile on her face and looks up at him once everything that's going on sinks in on her "Yeah… I was her first, you know? Kinda ruined her for everyone else, I'm THAT good… So I came back to claim what's rightfully mine" she looks at the man for a few more seconds "You can spread that around if you want, I'm ok with it…" she shrugs and stares at him some more, waiting for him to say something, but he doesn't. So she smiles and nods her head "Thanks for the warning, tough…" and then turns back around still holding Faith, and resume their walking to the brunette's car.

"Buffy that was so cool!" Tara says once they're far enough so the man can't hear them and the other blonde chuckles a little "What's the deal? You banged her sister or something?" she asks looking at Faith.

"Well… yeah" she says looking at her feet.

Buffy chuckles and shrugs her shoulders "He deserved it anyway. He should learn to mind his own business" she says reassuring her girlfriend who immediately looks up at her with a little smile.

"You take her home" Tara winks at Buffy, who nods her head with a reassuring smile.

"You take care of her… She's my best friend" Buffy says and Tara nods her head "With my life"

Buffy unlocks the car and immediately Faith gets in while Willow and Tara start getting into a cab. Buffy gets in the driver's seat and as soon as she starts the car Faith rolls down the windows "Have fun girls!" she drunkenly yells at her friends before the cab takes off "Don't do anything I wouldn't do… Which is almost impossible!" she laughs out loud at her own joke.

The blonde looks at her and laughs while rolling the windows back up "Wow… You really weren't joking about getting wasted, huh?" she asks as Faith leans back on the seat and smiles "Nope" she turns her head to look at Buffy once the car takes off into the street "You're so hot, B…"

The blonde looks at her for a second and laughs "You are too, Faith"

"No, seriously… You're so beautiful and hot and stuff…" this makes the blonde laugh even more and she reaches to stroke Faith's left thigh for a few seconds "Thank you baby"

The brunette relaxes more into her seat and stares ahead to the street "Thanks for coming back to me" she says with a smile without looking at her "I've missed ya like fuckin' crazy"

Buffy looks at her again smiling "I missed you too, baby"

"I was really screwed up, ya know? Completely broken"

The sudden change of tone makes Buffy frown a little "What are you talking about?"

"I really did all those things T said… And fucked that dude's sister and ditched her before she even woke up and never called again…" she sighs a little sad "I really fucked up"

"Faith, honey… None of that matters anymore"

"Yeah, it does"

Buffy frowns again getting a little worried "Care to explain? I'm starting to freak out"

Faith turns to look at her "Nonono! Don't freak out, B! I'd never do that to ya, I really, really love ya" she sighs again "It matters because I never apologized for what I did…"

Buffy nods her head in understanding "And now you're feeling bad about that…?" she says more as a statement than a question and sees Faith nod her head in agreement "Now that I'm with you, and you make me feel all tingly inside and stuff, I feel really bad for all the shit I did to a lot of chicks"

"Have you ever lied to them?" the blonde asks frowning still looking at the road in front of her.

Faith shakes her head 'no' and looks at the road too "I never lied or made any promises. You know I don't do that"

"So they knew what they were getting into…?" she asks already knowing the answer. That's one thing about Faith that hasn't changed one little bit. She's straight forward and she doesn't lie to you. No matter how bad the truth hurts.

"I guess…"

"Then it's not entirely your fault baby. They did what they did knowingly, so if you think about it, it isn't fair to blame you and only you" she looks at her for a second "They're just as responsible as you are"

There are a couple of minutes of silence. None of them speak while Faith thinks about what Buffy just said. She turns her head to her left again to look at her "I love ya" she says with a smile "You always make me feel better"

Buffy smiles back at her "I love you too… And I'm glad. You do the same thing for me" she reaches for Faith's hand and entwine her fingers with the brunette's "Baby can you take the gate key?" she asks while taking a turn on Faith's street. The brunette grabs the key and pushes the little button once they're in front of the gate. Once it's open the blonde drives through it and parks the car on her girlfriend parking spot. She turns off the engine and looks at Faith "You ok?" she asks smiling.

Faith looks back at her and nods with a smile "Yeah… Just tired, I guess…"

"Can you walk or you need me to carry you?"

Both of them laugh and Faith shakes her head "I can walk just fine" she opens the door to get out and Buffy does the same "I've been a lot worst, believe me…" she laughs while slamming the door shut "And you couldn't carry me even if you tried, B"

"Wanna try?" the blonde asks ginning and wriggling her eyebrows, and her girlfriend shakes her head 'no' while laughing and starting to walk to the elevator. Buffy gets immediately by her side and holds her again by the waist. Faith leans against her and sighs with a smile.

After taking the elevator they reach Faith's floor, and the blonde reaches into the brunette's front pocket and takes out her keys. Once their inside Faith slumps on the couch and lets out an exhausted sigh "Long night?" the blonde asks while taking her Blackberry and keys out of her pockets and leaving them on the little table by the door, along with Faith's keys.

The brunette nods and leans her head on the back of the couch while closing her eyes "Yeah…" she holds her arm out when she feels Buffy sitting next to her so the blonde can lean against her. Which she does immediately "I really think I'm gonna have to listen to T and get some more help. It's getting crazy in that kitchen…"

"That's 'cause you're a control freak. You should've done that a long time ago" Buffy says smiling and kisses her girlfriend cheek.

"I know…" Faith laughs "…but I'll have to learn my lesson eventually" she rubs her eyes "I'll have to get at least a pastry and dessert chef and a few more students or graduates to help. I haven't even replaced that stupid Ben"

Buffy laughs "The one that caught on fire?" Faith nods with a smile "You made quite an impression on everyone that day" now both of them laugh "It was very sexy"

The brunette opens her eyes and looks at her "Are you serious? You thought it was sexy?"

"Well, yes! The way you took care of it and put him out…" Buffy trails off remembering that night and nibbles on her lower lip.

"Seriously, B?!" Faith chuckles "Now you're getting' horny?"

The blonde blushes "No, I'm not"

"I know that look, B. You are!" Faith chuckles again "Your eyes get all dark, and your pupils dilate a little, and ya start nibblin' on your own lip!"

"Shut up" the blonde says and stands up from the couch before walking to the kitchen. She comes back a few seconds later with two bottles of water and hands both of them to Faith "Here"

The brunette takes them with a smile "Thanks"

"Drink both of them so you don't feel like shit in the morning, ok?"

Faith nods her head and stands up from the couch "You're staying tonight?" she asks leaning closer to Buffy and making her smile.

The blonde wraps her arms around Faith and rests her head against her girlfriend's shoulder "If you want me to"

"Always do…" she says and pulls apart from the blonde, before holding the two bottles on one hand and taking Buffy by the hand with the other and leading her to the bedroom "…maybe you can pay me what you owe me" she says with a little smirk.

Buffy chuckles while turning on only the table lamps so the light doesn't hurt Faith's eye "Baby, you're drunk… You'll fall asleep as soon as your head touches the pillow"

"No fuckin' way!" the brunette shakes her head a little offended.

Buffy snorts "Wanna bet?" she asks with a little smirk "…and start drinking that! I'll get you some clothes…" she walks to the dresser while Faith twists the cap off one of the bottles and takes a long drink "There's no need for those, B" Buffy turns around to ask what she meant, but stops when she sees Faith standing by the bed facing away from her already with her t-shirt off and unbuckling her belt before taking off her boots, socks and jeans "Well, that was fast…" the blonde says smiling and Faith turns around to face her.

"Toldcha!" she smirks, standing there in only her underwear, and downs in one single go a whole bottle of water. She puts the cap back on and leaves the empty bottle on her nightstand along with her watch. She winks at her girlfriend while getting in bed under the covers. Buffy watches her move around a little, and just before she has time to ask what the hell she's doing, Faith takes out her right arm and tosses her bra and panties to the floor with a big grin, wriggling her eyebrows "You really are a little crazy, aren't you?" Buffy asks laughing and start walking to the bed while undressing before Faith's intense gaze. She stands by her side of the bed for a few seconds "So…?" Faith asks still staring at her.

"What?" she crawls under the covers.

The brunette turns to her side to look at her "That's cheating" she says in mock hurt.

"What are you talking about?" the blonde asks.

Faith sighs and lifts the sheets a little to look at her girlfriend's body "You still have your underwear!"

Buffy grins after seeing Faith's naked body when she lifted the covers "So…?"

The brunette sighs again and rolls her eyes "Take 'em off, it's just not fair" the blonde laughs, turns to her side to face her girlfriend and scoots closer to hug her "Faith, you need to sleep right now" she says leaving little kisses along Faith's jaw line. The brunette gets a little smile on her face and hugs her back, but as soon as she has her hand on Buffy's back she unclasps her bra in one quick motion "Hey!" the blonde protests as Faith reaches to her front and takes it off before tossing it to the floor "I can deal with the fact that I might be a little drunk and should sleep it off, but the least you can do is get naked, press that hot body of yours against mine, and sleep with me like that…" she leaves a little kiss on Buffy's lips "…and then we'll fuck in the morning, like God intended"

Both of them start laughing and the blonde kisses her hard on the lips "Ok, tell you what, you finish that other bottle and I'll take this off…" she says putting her thumb on the waist of her panties even though her girlfriend can't see that she's doing it with the sheets covering her. Faith's eyes shot wide open and, in one quick motion, she sits on the bed, takes off the cap of the bottle and drinks it just like she drank the first one "Ok, your turn" she says once she finishes it looking at the blonde "Fair enough" Buffy says and start taking off her panties, while Faith lifts the covers again to see. As soon as they're off the brunette takes in a sharp deep breath and looks at her straight in the eye without saying a single word "Are you ok, baby?" the blonde asks a little concerned.

Faith smiles at her and nods her head 'yes' "It's just…" she shakes her head trying to clear her thoughts "I don't know… it's like too much sometimes, ya know? I mean, in an extremely wicked good way" she chuckles a little and Buffy start to lightly stroke her waist with the tip of her fingers "I guess I still can't believe this"

Buffy nods her head in understanding "I know…" she smiles and leaves a short sweet kiss on Faith's lips "Now close your eyes and try to get some sleep baby, I'll be right here…" she says, and before she can even finish what she's saying, her girlfriend's already asleep with a little smile on her face.


	12. 3 Asses Cacklin' Like Fuckin' Chickens

**Chapter 12: ****Three Asses Cacklin' Like Fuckin' Chickens**

"Make it stop! Please B, make it stop!"

"Alright, alright!"

"What is it with people that keep doin' that shit?!"

"I have no idea! It's your place, not mine!"

"Please baby, make it stop" Faith whines.

The blonde sighs and sits on the bed while trying to adjust her eyes to the light coming through the window. She wraps the comforter around her body and stands up, leaving Faith only half covered with the sheet "I'm gonna kill whoever's doing that" she mumbles while walking to the door "Fine by me!" the brunette says a rolls onto her back covering her eyes with her forearm.

Once she's out of the bedroom, she starts walking to the front door "What the hell?!" she yells to whoever's ringing on the doorbell like a maniac "Buffy?" she hears Tara's voice from the other side "Tara?" she asks back and opens the door "What is it with the ringing? Do any of you need to pee really bad or something?" she asks frustrated as she steps aside while opening the door to let in the two woman standing there.

"Where you guys still sleeping?" Willow asks with a frown once she's inside.

"No, I just walk like this all day 'cause it's stylish" Buffy says sarcastically glaring at her and tugging on the comforter.

"We thought you'd be awake already, sorry" Tara apologizes blushing.

"Why would we be? We went out last night and came back really late. We thought we'd sleep a little late this morning"

"Um… Buff? It's three in the afternoon…" Willow says pointing at a clock hanging on the wall.

"What are you-?" she turns around to look at the clock "…oh…" she looks back at the two girls "Sorry about that then"

"It's ok…" Tara smiles at her "I take it Faith's still sleeping?"

"Not with you three asses cacklin' like fuckin' chickens!" they hear the very pissed off brunette shout from the bedroom.

Buffy gives them an apologetic smile "Tara you know where everything is" she says and the other blonde nods her head with a smile "Sit… Watch TV… or something… I'll go get her up, ok?"

Willow nods and sits on the couch "Want me to do it?" Tara asks lowering her voice a little "I know how bad she can be when she's hangover…"

Buffy thinks about it for a few seconds and lowers her voice too "Do you think seeing her naked will scar you for life?" she asks.

Tara nods vigorously with her eyes wide open and a very frightened look on her face "Yeah, that. And also, I'll beat you both to death with a shovel" Willow says from the couch without even turning around to face them and Tara and Buffy laugh a little "WILL YA STOP FUCKIN' CACKLIN' LIKE THAT?! I HATE YOU!" they can hear Faith yell louder this time.

"I'll go, you save your ass" Buffy says and winks at Tara, who smiles in return.

"I'll make you some coffee, ok?" she says with a smile and Buffy nods before turning around and running back to the bedroom.

She closes the door behind her and looks at the brunette that's still on bed. She's lying on her back with the pillow over her face and the sheet's only covering the left side of her body "Good thing it's me here and not Tara" she says with a smile and Faith takes the pillow off her face to glare at her "Why would you send T here?"

"I wouldn't. She volunteered, but I told her to save herself. She's making coffee"

The brunette sighs and rubs her eyes while Buffy walks back to the bed and sits facing her "What the hell are they doing here this early?"

"It's three in the afternoon, baby" Buffy says with a little smile.

Faith frowns at her "Really?" the blonde nods her head "We slept for, like, ten hours?" another nod with a little smile "I haven't slept ten hours in so long…" she says with a smile and reaches out with her hand to take Buffy's. The blonde leans down and gives her a short kiss on the lips but when Faith tries to deepen it she pulls away with an apologetic smile "Haven't brushed my teeth yet…"

"Have I ever told you how stupid I think that is?" Faith asks with a little smile, making her girlfriend laugh and nod her head.

"Yes. But you'll have to learn to live with that" she stands up and starts walking to the bathroom.

"Ok, but the least you could do to make it up to me is lose the comforter" Faith suggests, watching her back while she walks away from her.

Buffy stops on her track and without turning around she let go on her grip and lets the comforter fall to the floor around her feet "Hope this is better" she says and starts walking to the bathroom again.

Faith gets a big stupid grin on her face while watching Buffy walk away from her and shakes her head once her girlfriend's out of sight. She sighs and gets up from the bed stretching a little while walking to the dresser. After putting on a pair of black 'very-short' shorts and a grey tank top, she takes out some of Buffy's clothes and leaves them on the bed "B, I really need to pee!" she shouts to the bathroom door.

"Use the other one!"

"C'mon! How long can you take in there?"

"As long as I need, Faith!"

"You made me drink two whole bottles of water last night and now they're really fuckin' trying to get out!"

The bathroom door opens abruptly startling her a little, but as soon as the naked blonde steps out she runs into it a closes the door shut "You're like a three year old, Faith!" the only response she hears from the other side of the door is a relived sigh and can't help but laugh a little "And thank you for the clothes"

"You're welcome, twinkie! Good thing ya finally came to your senses and have some clothes here now, right?" the blonde just laughs as a response and starts to get dressed in her shorts and t-shirt.

After a few minutes the bathroom door opens and a very relieved brunette steps out of it "I really need some coffee, my head's killing me" she pouts looking at her girlfriend.

"Good thing Tara's making some… C'mon baby, let's get you some coffee" she says reaching for Faith's hand and walking out of the bedroom with her.

"Good afternoon, Faith" Willow says chuckling and turning back to look at her from the couch. Tara's sitting next to her and both of them have coffee mugs in their hands.

"I hate you both" Faith glares at them "And where's that coffee you promised?"

"Table" Tara says.

Buffy and Faith turn to their left to look at the table and both smile. There are two coffee mugs, one glass of water, some fruit and a little white pill resting by the glass "Wasn't gonna cook, you already missed lunch and I don't know what you want to do about that…"

"Thanks T"

"You're welcome"

Both girls sit at the table and after taking a sip of her coffee Faith takes the little pill and swallows it with some water "Not to sound rude or anything, but what the fuck are ya doing here?"

"I'm here on business. Those papers on the table are for you" Tara answers, turning back on the couch and pointing at them.

Buffy takes them, since she's closer, and hands them to her girlfriend while biting on an apple "And I'm here on pleasure" the redhead says turning back too with a big smile on her face.

Faith looks from Tara to Willow and grins "Yeah, I bet you are" she winks at the redhead making her blush and starts looking at the papers while drinking her coffee "What is this?" she asks after a few seconds.

"An option. And the best one, if I may add"

"I told you I'd think about it. I didn't say 'yes'. You shouldn't have done this" Faith says looking at her in the eye a little irritated.

"Yes. And I know how long that 'yes' can take. We don't have that amount of time right now. So I'm saying 'yes' for you. She's in the city for three days. We're seeing her in a few hours before work" Tara looks at her seriously.

Buffy and Willow exchange a confused look and the redhead shrugs her shoulders letting her friend know that she has no idea what they're talking about. Buffy leans a little closer to Faith and glances at the papers. On top of one of the pages that look like a print out of a newspaper she can read 'Award winning Chef Cordelia Chase in NYC'.

"I'm not going" the brunette states, tossing the papers back on the table.

"You are" Tara stands up from the couch and looks at her dead serious in the eye.

"Look, T, we're fine… We may need some help, but not THAT much…"

"Don't be your stubborn self. You don't need some 'barely-any-good' pastry chef. You're a top-ten best, so you need a top-ten best. She certainly is. Anya already contacted her as a favor and she agreed to meet us"

"You know I don't like doing this kinda shit… Please?" the brunette pleads with her partner.

"It's your kitchen, Faith. If it was up to me, I would have her working with us already" she sighs and shakes her head a few times "She wants to meet you"

Faith sighs defeated "Fine… Where and when?"

"Your kitchen at five" Tara says with a pleased half smile and Faith gives her a short nod.

"Who's that Cordelia chick?" Buffy asks taking another bite of her apple after a few seconds of silence.

Faith finishes her coffee and looks at her girlfriend "Pastry chef, and a fuckin' good one"

"She's been working in Paris for almost ten years and she just came back yesterday" Tara explains.

"Ooohhh… She knows how to make croissants?" Buffy asks a little too excited.

Faith glares at her "You know I do, right?" she asks, trying to hide the little jealousy in her voice and her girlfriend looks back at her frowning "How come you never made some for me?"

Faith shrugs her shoulders "You never told me you liked 'em. If I'd know, I would have"

"Now you know, feel free to surprise me whenever you want" the blonde says and winks making her laugh a little and lightening the mood.

* * *

"Ok, give it to me straight. What's the deal? What am I doing here?" A brunette woman asks folding her arms across her chest and looking between the brunette and blonde women sitting across from her.

Faith's leaning back on her chair, with her arms folded across her chest and sighing loudly every now and then. Tara glares at her and then looks at the woman sitting in front of her again "We want you on board" she explains with a smile "Faith needs a pastry chef. And not just 'any', we want the best. That's why you're here, Cordelia"

"Right. Except that she doesn't look like she wants me here" Cordelia says nodding her head towards Faith, who rolls her eyes "It's not like that" she defends herself.

"Then what's the deal with you?" Cordelia asks looking at her in the eye.

"She's a control freak" Tara explains smiling.

Faith frowns and glares at her, and Cordelia immediately smiles and nods her head "Well, Chef Control-Freak, if you want me working with you, you're gonna have to cut the crap. I'm not some sous-chef or some other help-monkey, you know who I am and how I work. You know exactly what I can do. I know who you are, how you work, and I know exactly what you can do. Let's stop pretending we don't know anything about each other. I'm gonna give it to you straight: I'm really interested and tempted to say yes…" she says that last part looking at Tara and then looks back at Faith "…I'm sick of speaking French. I like your numbers…" she looks at one of the papers that are on the table in front of her "…I really like you Tara. And I don't know exactly why, because you're acting like a stubborn child, but I kinda like you too" she says this last part looking at Faith "So don't waste any more of my time. If you want me to work with you, just say the word and I'll start whenever you want. If you don't, tell me now because I have tons of things to do before going back to LA" she goes back to look at both of them and leans back on her chair waiting for an answer.

Faith's frown slowly fades and she gets a serious look on her face "Ok, chef. I know you're a pro, but let's lay a few ground rules here. That's my kitchen. I'll treat you with the respect you deserve, and you'll treat me with the respect I deserve" she sees Cordelia nod her head once "From the moment you sign those papers, you're completely in charge of pastries and desserts. You get to design your own menu, which I expect a copy from in two days for approval, and you get to manage your own staff. If you have your own providers, you can deal with them too, as long as they're top notch. You'll have access to everything and anything you need. If we don't have it, you let us know and we'll get it for you. As many of us do, you can bring your own utensils if you prefer, but I highly recommend you take them back with you every night" another short nod from the pastry chef "You will have complete access to our numbers and how many people we serve every single day, and from that you'll tell Tara how much help you're gonna need. They're going to be there for you, and ONLY for you. That means you're gonna be in charge of selecting them before hiring. Choose wisely, there are a lot of idiots around. Tara will assist you with that" she looks at her partner, who has a small smile in her face and nods her head a few times "I expect you to NOT take any shit from anyone. Not even me" she raises one eyebrow while looking at the woman in front of her, who gets a smile on her face.

"Oh, that's not gonna be a problem" Cordelia says and winks.

Faith smiles back at her and give her a short nod "You'll meet chef Cassie soon, she's my sous-chef. That means she's off limits for you. Anyone else from my staff you need, feel free to ask if they're not busy. They will assist you if it comes down to it" she takes a deep breath and smiles a little more "I'm sure I don't even have to tell you this, but just in case. You're a boss in there. Is that clear?" Cordelia frowns a little confused so Faith keeps talking "As I told you before, you don't take shit from anybody. As long as we're talking pastries and desserts, you're the fuckin' boss, make sure everyone knows that. It'll save you a lot of attitude from a lot of morons. If you have to fire someone, do it. Don't be afraid of anythin', we're not gonna undermine you. You have as much control over your staff as I have over mine. I'm a control freak, but I know I can trust you" Cordelia nods again with a little smile "Is there anything else you need to know? You want to ask us something?"

The woman thinks for a few seconds "A sous-chef is contemplated in my staff?" she asks with a frown.

"Of course" Tara's the one to answer "You have one already?"

"Yes. I worked with him for five years in Paris. He'll be here as soon as I call him"

"Are the two of you involved?" Faith asks seriously.

"Excuse me?"

"Is he your boyfriend, lover, husband… whatever?"

Cordelia laughs "Oh, no. A kitchen is a very dangerous place to have a boyfriend or an affair. I hope you know that…?"

"Excuse me?" now's Faith turn to sound shocked.

"You sounded kind of possessive with chef… Cassie, was it? Your sous-chef? Are the two of you involved? And the occasional fuck count as 'involved', just so you know" she asks smiling.

Faith chuckles a little "You have some balls. I'll give you that, chef" she smiles "No. We're not. I don't like that kind of drama in my kitchen" she pauses for a few seconds "Why would you assume that?" she asks a little amused.

"What?"

"That I'm into chicks"

"Hate to break it to you, chef, but you're kind of very well known. There's kitchen gossip, even in Paris. In fact, Camille says 'bonjour'…" she winks at her and Faith's eyebrows shot upward immediately "…and I'm not kidding"

Tara starts laughing and Cordelia follows immediately "That's one crazy French chick" Faith says chuckling a little.

"Yeah, I really don't know what you were thinking" Cordelia says smiling.

Faith shrugs her shoulders "I was very young, she was very hot"

"That's all she needed, really" Tara adds and Faith nods her head in agreement before the three of them start laughing again.

The front door opens and Cassie enters the restaurant still with her headphones on, stopping in her tracks a little startled when she sees the three women laughing at a table "Hi guys" she greets, startling them while taking off her headphones and turning off her iPod.

"Hey kid, come here!" Faith says.

While Cassie leaves her knife bag and backpack over a table and walks to them, Cordelia takes the pen that's on the table and starts signing her contract still laughing with Tara. She lifts her gaze when she hears Faith speak "Cassie, this is chef Cordelia-"

"…Chase" the young girl finishes for her looking straight at the woman with her mouth slightly open.

Cordelia looks at her with a little smile "Oh, so you're Cassie, chef Faith's protégée…" she stands up and puts her hand out for the young girl to shake "It's really nice to meet you, chef Cassie" the girl shakes her hand with a smile "I'll be joining chef Faith's kitchen next week"

"Are you serious?!" the girl asks in disbelief and Cordelia nods with a sweet smile "For real?" she asks again now looking at her bosses.

"Yeah, kid" Faith chuckles "What? Are you a groupie or something?"

Cassie shakes her head 'no' and blushes a little "I never, EVER, thought I'd be working in the same kitchen as both of you" she blushes a little "Sorry, I swear I'm not a kitchen groupie or anything like that" she apologizes to Cordelia.

The woman smiles and gives her a little pat on the shoulder "Nah, she's usually pretty cool" Faith says teasing her and Cassie elbows her lightly "Welcome, chef" she says then looking at Cordelia.

"Thank you" the woman says back.

"Ok, I'm gonna go get changed and start in there" she says looking at her watch and then at Faith "Feel free to join me whenever you're ready, chef" she teases her with an evil smile.

"Smartass…" Faith says smiling "…I'll be right there" the girl nods her head, picks her backpack and knife bag from the table and walks through the staff door.

"Sure you're not hooking up with her? She's kinda cute…" Cordelia asks while she sits back down and finishes signing the contract.

Tara laughs a little and Faith shakes her head 'no' laughing too "I'm not. My girlfriend's way cuter" she sits too and smiles.

Cordelia looks at her straight in the eyes with a smile "Your girlfriend? Chef Faith is in a real, serious, committed relationship?"

"Yeah" she laughs.

"Camille will be SO disappointed" Cordelia laughs loudly "Who's that miraculous chick that got you to settle down? Anyone I might know?"

Faith shakes her head 'no' "You'll meet her eventually, she comes here sometimes"

"I bet" Cordelia says and start laughing and Faith follows her a few seconds later "Ok girls, when do we start?" she asks after the laughter calms down.

"Do you think your sous-chef can be here on Friday?" Tara asks and takes the papers Cordelia just signed.

"Yes"

"Great. I'll talk to some people so we can get an ad for new staff. We should start having people to interview the day after tomorrow…" she says "…that works for you?"

"Of course, call me and let me know what time to be here, ok?" she stands up and grabs her purse "I'm gonna go now… Have a sous-chef to summon ASAP"

"I'll call you tomorrow" the blonde says standing up with a big smile.

"Yeah, and don't expect me to call you like… ever" Faith chuckles standing up as well.

"You know you liked me" Cordelia says to the brunette with a little smirk and starts walking to the door. Just when she's about to reach for the handle to open it, someone pushes the door from outside stepping in and bumping into her "Ow!" she stumbles back a little.

The shorter and 'kinda-blondish-red-haired" girl she just bumped into grabs her by the arms to stop her from falling "I'm so sorry, are you-whoa! Hello…" she says with a big predatory smile while looking at her up and down. Cordelia looks at her with her eyes half closed and an amused smile on her face.

"No!" Faith shouts from behind her. She steps closer and takes Janice's hands off Cordelia's arms and glares at the young girl "No. There's no fuckin' way in hell. No!" she says again looking at her straight in the eye, and making the girl laugh.

She shakes her head and looks back at Cordelia "I'm Jenny" she says holding her hand out.

The brunette girl shakes her hand with a smile but before she can introduce herself Faith interrupts "No, she's not. She's Janice" she glares at the girl a little more "She's our bartender and she's NOT gonna hit on you. Not now, not ever"

Janice snorts a little and lets go of Cordelia's hand "I'm Cordelia" the woman says with a huge grin.

"Stop that!" Faith says looking from one woman to the other. After a few seconds she looks at Janice "Cordelia's a chef, she'll be working with us"

"Finally some good news around here!" Janice says and walks to the bar still looking at the girl.

"Seriously, you better fuckin' stop that" Faith says again.

Cordelia looks at them and chuckles "What's that Jenny/Janice thing you have going on?" she asks sitting on a stool, still looking amused at the girl behind the bar.

"She uses the name 'Jenny' with the chicks she wants to fuck" Faith explains before Janice can say a word "And I have no problem with that, as long as those chicks don't work here" she says looking at the bartender "You know the rules"

"I do, but Faith… Look at her!" the girl says and looks at Cordelia again with the predatory look.

Cordelia grins widely "You just boosted my ego like you wouldn't believe…" she says while standing up from the stool and winks at Janice "…but I drive stick ladies, and I'm not planning on changing that any time soon" she says with a big smile and walking to the door "See you girls later!" she says and walks out, leaving Janice with her mouth wide open and Faith with a smirk on her face "Ok, that was fuckin' gold" Faith says and looks at Janice "That's what you get when you don't listen to me" she smirks and little and walks back to Tara.

Janice shrugs her shoulders and smiles while starting to clean the bar "Doesn't hurt to have some eye candy around…" she glances over to the brunette "…aside from you two, of course" she adds with a big smile.

Tara laughs and Faith glares at her "Don't be an ass, would ya?" the brunette says "I'm your best friend's sister in law, don't be gross. Dawn will kick your sorry ass in a second"


	13. I'm Not a Myth, I'm a Real Person

**Chapter 13:** **I'm Not a Myth, I'm a Real Person**

"Ya ready birthday girl?" Faith asks standing at her partner's office door.

Tara looks up from her desk and frowns "Do you have to keep saying that? I r-really don't ap-preciate it"

"Did ya just stutter?" Faith frowns and takes a step into the office.

"No"

"You did. What's the matter?" she sits across from Tara's desk.

"Don't g-give me that look. I'm f-fine…" she stutters again "Fuck" she mumbles to herself.

"You're not 'fine' when you say you're 'f-fine', Tara" she tilts her head to the side a little "Tell me, what's wrong…?"

The blonde looks at her and lets out a big sigh "My d-dad just c-called" that's all she says.

Faith gets an angry face and snorts "What did he want?"

"Apparently, t-to wish me a hap-py b-birthday"

Faith sighs a little annoyed "I'm sorry, I know he's your dad and all that stuff, but he doesn't give a fuckin' shit about anyone! Why did you answer your phone?"

"I k-know that… I-I… Have n-no idea…"

The brunette sighs and stands up "C'mere, baby…" she walks around the desk, kneels down by Tara's chair and holds her in a big hug. Tara sighs and leans her head on her shoulder "You can't keep doing this to yourself, T…"

"I know…"

"Not after last time… I spent the night in jail for you! And all for what? So you can answer your phone as soon as he calls you?" Faith says in a playful tone trying to lighten the mood. Tara laughs a little, so she gets a pleased look on her face.

"Are you guys ok?" they hear a voice from the doorway and both look up.

"Are we?" Faith asks looking at Tara, who takes a deep breath and looks at the door "Yes, Buffy, w-we're ok" she says with a little smile and Faith let go of her hold on her and stands up. Her girlfriend gives a questioning look, but she just shakes her head and mouths the word 'later' when Tara's looking away from them.

"Ok, so… Willow's kinda freaking out over there about meeting your mom…" Buffy says with a smile looking at Tara now and Faith chuckles "…she's been freaking out all day, now's only like a million times worse" Buffy continues.

Tara gets a sweet smile on her face "I'll b-be right t-there Buffy, t-thank you" she stands up from her desk, fixes her hair a little over a mirror on the wall and walks out the door.

"What was that about spending the night in jail?" Buffy asks with a little smile once they see Tara go out through the staff door. She takes a few steps into the office and leans against Tara's desk.

Faith smirks "Were ya listening to a private conversation?"

"No. I was just coming to get you guys and overheard that little part, I'm sorry" she blushes a little.

The brunette chuckles and goes to stand in front of her, putting her hands on Buffy's waist "Don't be…" she leaves a little kiss on the blonde's lips and smiles "…it was a few years ago"

"What happened?"

"You have to promise me you won't say a word about this, B. Red should learn about all this stuff in time and from Tara. Can I trust you on that?" she sees Buffy nod her head and she goes to close the door before coming back and standing in front of the blonde again "So, here's the thing…" she starts to explain in a low voice "T's dad has always been a fuckin' jerk. I have no idea why Lily married him in the first place, but I guess it was 'young love' or something… Anyway, when I met T in college she used to be this incredibly shy girl who couldn't say one single sentence without stuttering. Have you noticed her stutter a few minutes ago?"

"Yes, what's that all about? I've never heard her do that before"

"Well, she used to be a lot worse than that when I met her" Faith sighs "Her parents had just got divorced. Guess Lily wanted to wait until both her kids were in college before doing something about that so they would be out of harm's way" Buffy nods her head in understanding and Faith keeps talking "It took some time, but when we became best friends she opened up to me… Her dad was a fuckin' asshole. He had, and still has a really bad temper and used to yell at the three of 'em all the time. Sometimes he even used to beat the hell out of them. Not only his kids, but his wife too" she gets a really deep angry frown on her face "That was the reason she stuttered so much. She was so fuckin' afraid of everything, B. You have no idea. She started therapy and I guess I helped a little bit too, and after a while she began to overcome all that fucked up shit and became the girl you now know. She's still a little shy, but I guess that's her nature or something" she gets a little smile on her face "She has always been the sweetest girl…" then she frowns again "I can't even imagine why that fuckin' son of a bitch would even do somethin' like that… He's a sick little piece of shit" the blonde takes her hand and starts lightly stroking her there with her thumb. Faith looks at her in the eye a lets out a little sigh "A few years ago he came over for her birthday. I think it was her twenty-fifth. We were having dinner over at a restaurant… Nobody wanted him there and she was really uncomfortable, so Lily asked him to leave. You'll meet Lily today. She's even sweeter than T is, you'll see, so she was extremely delicate and polite. Didn't work anyway. He gave her a look full of hate and told her he had every right to be there, that Tara was his daughter too and she couldn't make him leave his daughter's birthday. So that's when Donny stepped in…"

"Who's Donny?"

"T's big brother" she smiles "He's like a big teddy bear. Only scary as hell. At least until you get to know him and he warms up to ya. Then he's just as sweet as T is. He's the one who got the worst beatings from his father, and that shit fucked him up a lot" Buffy nods her head and gulps loudly "Anyway, when Donny stepped in, the yelling began. He stood up and tried to make him leave and touched his arm to lead him to the door. Guess the man likes to touch but doesn't like to be touched, 'cause he shoved Donny really hard and he hit his head pretty bad on a wall and passed out immediately. Lily rushed to his side and saw that he had his head split open a little and some blood was starting to pour out of the wound. When T saw that she stood up to face him, but before she could even say a word he back-slapped her so hard that her lip parted and started to bleed pretty badly. Have you seen the little scar she has over her lip? That was him. I was completely in shock when I looked over at her, and when I saw the blood and the scared look on her face I lost it. I completely fuckin' lost it. And believe me when I tell you that by then we already had an audience. Everybody there was staring at us and some waiter had already called the cops. I stood up, walked to that motherfucker and knocked him to the floor with a single punch. That would've been enough, but I was completely blinded by rage… Seein' that kinda shit brought up a lot of my own shit and I was too far gone. I kneeled above him with one leg on each side of his body, grabbed him by the collar with my left hand so he couldn't move, and started punchin' him over and over…" she gets a guilty look on her face and the blonde holds her by the waist now "…'til I felt two strong hands grabbing on my shoulders trying to make me stop and Lily's scared voice repeatin' my name to get me the fuck out of where I was in my head" she lets out a long sigh "I looked down, really looked, and gasped when I saw his face. He was really bruised and bleedin', but still conscious and glarin' at me. I couldn't move, I looked at my hand and my knuckles were bleeding, and that's when Lily's hands on my shoulders lifted me up and she wrapped me in a tight hug. I couldn't hug her back, I was still in shock. I just stood there completely frozen looking at Tara and Donny over her shoulder" she lets out a long sigh and gets a guilty look on her face "The cops arrived and saw that fucking asshole still on the floor, my knuckles bleeding, and put the pieces together. I got arrested for assault and spent the night there while Lily, Donny and Tara went to the police station to state what had happened, so after payin' a fine they let me go"

"What happened to him?" Buffy asks after a few seconds of silence.

Faith snorts "Absolutely nothing. Donny and Tara pressed charges against him, but the fucker got out anyway… He just called her a few minutes ago for her fuckin' birthday, that's why she was stuttering like that"

"Did they see him again?"

Faith shakes her head 'no' "He might be needin' money or something, 'cause he never called again or came to visit. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he didn't, but that just shows how fucked up everything is. He showed up that night 'cause he needed money, so I'm sure that's what he wants now, too…"

Buffy pulls her to her body and hugs her tight resting her chin on Faith's shoulder. The brunette lets out a long sigh and hugs her back just as tightly "B, this just stays between you and me, ok?" she says without breaking the hug.

"Of course, baby" the blonde says leaving a little kiss under Faith's ear "I'm really sorry you guys went through all that…" the brunette hugs her a little tighter as a response and doesn't say anything else until a knock on the door startles them and they break the hug.

"Come in" Faith shouts to the door.

It slowly opens a little and a woman's head peaks through the gap between the door and the frame "Sorry girls, Tara sent me here to look for you" the woman says with a sweet smile and Buffy can feel Faith immediately relax.

"Since when moms take orders from their children? I thought it was the other way around…" the brunette asks with a big grin and the blonde woman opens the door completely.

"You know my daughter doesn't give orders, she asks nicely so you can't say 'no'…" she grins too and then looks at Buffy "You must be Buffy, right?" she asks while taking a few steps into the office.

The blonde girl nods her head "Yes" she says while extending her hand to the woman to shake, but to her surprise, she's immediately wrapped in a tight hug "I'm Lily, Tara's mom" the woman pulls away from the hug but still holds her by the shoulders "It's really nice to finally meet you, Buffy. I've heard a lot about you" she says with the sweetest smile Buffy has ever seen.

"It's really nice to meet you too Mrs-"

"No Mrs. My name's Lily. You'll call me Lily, alright?"

Buffy nods with a big smile "It's really nice to meet you Lily" she glances briefly at Faith and then looks back at the woman "So, you've heard a lot about me, huh?"

Lily laughs a big throaty laugh "Oh, yes. Can you guess from whom?" she asks glancing at Faith too for a split second.

"Yeah, I think I can, but I'm guessing she won't be very pleased if I do" the blonde says with a little giggle.

"Can the two of you stop talking about me as if I wasn't standing right here?" Faith says blushing a little.

"Come here, you big whiner!" Lily says and wraps Faith in a big tight hug "I've missed you so much Faithy! I know you're in a relationship now, which by the way I'm so glad, but you can still visit every once in a while!" the woman mock scolds her a little and breaks the hug.

"I have!"

"I haven't seen you in over a month!"

Faith thinks about that for a few seconds and gets a guilty look on her face when she realizes that she's right about that "I'm sorry, Lily"

Lily puts her hand on the brunette cheek and caresses it "Don't worry about it, Faithy. I'm really happy for you…" she looks at Buffy now too "…for both of you"

"So, what's the deal? I ask you to come here looking for them and now I have to come looking for the three of you?" they hear a non-stuttering-voice come from the doorway.

Lily turns around and walks to her daughter "I'm sorry sweetheart. Let's go girls!" she says and starts walking with Tara to the door. Buffy and Faith exchange a quick look and smile, before going after the other two.

Once they're out the staff door they can hear music and see some other people in there. Janice's with Dawn at the bar and she's teaching her to mix some drinks. Xander, Anya and Lauren are there too, sitting at the stools and laughing with the two girls. The three of them already have drinks in their hands. Willow's sitting at a table along with Joyce and Giles and they're talking about something and smiling. Cassie's there too, sitting at another table with Cordelia and a very handsome man named Adam, Cordelia's sous-chef.

"Did ya notice that he's totally checkin' you out?" Faith asks looking at her girlfriend.

"Who?" the blonde asks back a little lost while leaning back on the wall.

"That Adam dude" the brunette says nodding with her head towards the man, who's glancing over at Buffy every now and then.

Buffy snorts a little "He's not"

Faith shakes her head and stands in front of her girlfriend, turning her back to the man who's clearly checking Buffy out "B, he is, believe me…" she puts her hands and the blonde's waist and leans a little closer "Look at him over my shoulder…"

The blonde frowns at her "What are you doing?"

"Just look at him, you'll see he's been checking you out" the brunette chuckles and leans even closer. Buffy sighs and looks over her girlfriend shoulder just in time to see the man stare at her and take his eyes away as soon as he sees her looking back. She giggles a little and looks back at Faith "Poor guy… Again, what are you doing?" she asks as Faith keeps leaning closer and closer.

The brunette gets a little devilish smile on her face "I can say I'm claimin' what's rightfully mine, like someone I know once said…" she pauses and leans closer to her girlfriend, brushing her lips against Buffy's ear when she speaks again "…but I'm mostly marking my territory" she discretely bites down on Buffy's earlobe, forcing the blonde to take in a sharp breath, then she moves her lips and kisses her lightly and for only a couple of seconds, before pulling away "But I don't want to give a show, since your mom, Giles and Lily are here, so…"

"Sometimes I hate you so much" Buffy says when Faith pulls her body away from hers completely and laughs a little "C'mon, let's get a drink before your sister breaks every bottle we have here" she takes Buffy by the hand and leads her to the bar.

"Hey guys!" Lauren says a little too loud as she sees them approach the bar. Both girls chuckle a little.

"Are you already drunk?" Buffy asks and the girl nods her hear vigorously with a grin "How long have we been there?"

"A while, I guess" Faith says laughing "Janice, hit me! These guys are already drunk. I have a lot of catchin' up to do!"

"So how was the sex?" Anya asks looking at Buffy and Faith ginning. Xander chokes on his beer, Dawn spills a whole glass of something, Lauren starts giggling like a little kid and Janice keeps pouring Faith a glass of Jack with a little smirk on her face.

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asks confused.

Janice looks at her and Faith with one eyebrow raised and the little smirk while handing the glass of Jack to the brunette "Thanks. And take that stupid smirk outta your face before I whip it out, kid" Faith says taking the glass.

"The sex you were having back there" Anya explains in all seriousness before taking another sip of her drink.

"We weren't having sex, Anya" Buffy says.

"What were you doing there for so long then?"

"Talking"

"Right…" Anya says nodding her head and winks at her.

"Seriously, Anya. We were just talking" Buffy starts to get a little annoyed.

Anya frowns and looks at them "What a stupid thing to do when you could be having hot lesbian sex" she shrugs her shoulders.

Faith starts laughing, getting herself a glare from her girlfriend "What? She has a point! It is fuckin' hot!" she downs her glass and Janice refills it immediately with a big grin without her even asking "I betcha" she says looking at the glass.

"That's so gross Janice, she's my sister!" Dawn says and punches her in the arm.

"Doesn't make it any less hot" she gets a hold of a bottle and starts mixing a few things together on a shaker.

"I've known you since you were a little kid and had sleepovers at my mom's place, Janice. That's wrong on so many levels" Buffy glares at her.

"Again, doesn't make it any less hot" she says with a smirk while taking a martini glass off the shelf and placing it in front of Buffy before pouring in the drink she just mixed.

Faith moves her glass to the side and lifts herself a little on her elbows over the bar, before giving the bartender a short, hard punch on the shoulder "Ow! Faith! What the fuck?" the girl shouts rubbing the sore spot. The only answer she gets is a look from her boss with one raised eyebrow and a defying look.

"Bite me" Janice says and goes back to fix another drink.

"You wish" Faith smirks and takes another sip.

The young bartender glares at her "Oh, you think you're the shit, dontcha?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are we pretendin' you didn't hit on me every day on your first month here, kid?" the brunette asks her a little amused and with a cocky smile on her face.

"I so did not!" Janice protests while pouring what she just mixed in two identical glasses filled with ice and lime slices. She glares at Faith before taking the two glasses and walking off the bar. She takes them to one of the tables and leaves one in front of Tara and the other one in front of Lily.

"She so did" Faith says and takes her drink in one hand and her girlfriend's hand in the other, before leading her away from the bar and to Tara's table.

"Did you?" Dawn asks her best friend in a low voice once she's back behind the bar and her sister and Faith are away from them.

Janice gets a little smirk on her face "Oh yeah, a lot" she chuckles and Dawn does too "And if you tell anybody I'll have to kill you"

About an hour later Faith's iPhone vibrates and she takes it out of her pocket, unlocks the screen and reads the text she just got 'Hey ass, is Tara there with you?' she smirks and texts back.

'Yeah, why?'

'I'm outside right now, she doesn't know and neither does mom. Get rid of her and come open the door for me'

'Go wait by the back door. I'll be there in a minute'

She gets huge smiles on her face and leans a little closer to Buffy "Babe, I'll be right back" she whispers.

"Where are you going?" the blonde whispers back at her.

"You'll see" she winks while standing up from her chair and walks to the back door.

A few minutes later Buffy sees her girlfriend come out from the door with someone behind her. Faith catches her eye and puts her index finger over her own lips in a shushing gesture. The blonde gives her a sort smile and nod and keeps listening to what Lily's saying "…then Donny came running to me and said 'I think there's something wrong with my sister' playing the worried big brother part, and when I ran after him to where Tara was to see what was wrong, I almost peed myself…"

"Mom, that's so embarrassing!" Tara says hiding her face behind her long hair.

"Oh, please! You were adorable! Still are!" she looks sweetly at her daughter but before she can continue with her story someone interrupts her while placing two big hands on Tara's shoulder from behind and startling her "I think we can all agree that I've always been more adorable… In an extremely manly way, of course"

"Oh my God, Donny!" Tara jumps from her chair and wraps her arms around her big brother's neck, who wraps his around her waist and lifts her off the ground while hugging her "Happy birthday lil' sis!"

"Thank you" she says and he puts her down.

He looks over at his mother "Aren't you gonna hug me or something?"

The woman gets a big smile on her face "Of course I will" she stands up and gives his son a big hug while stroking his back "You cut your hair" she says touching his really short blonde-reddish hair.

"Yeah, I woke up one day and realized I was thirty-two years old"

Tara laughs a little "I've been telling you to get a haircut for so long!"

"Yeah, yeah… I know… Thick skull, remember?"

Her sister smiles at him and then gets a shocked look on her face noticing she hasn't introduced her bother to anyone "Donny, this is Buffy, Faith's girlfriend…" she says motioning towards the girl, who stands up and holds out her hand.

He takes it in his with a little smile "Faith's girlfriend?"

"Yes. And I'm not a myth, I'm a real person. Nice to meet you" the blonde says smiling.

"About time… It's really nice to meet you Buffy" he laughs and says back, then flinches a little when Faith's elbow makes contact with his ribs.

"These are Joyce Summers and Rupert Giles…" Tara goes on with the introductions and he shakes hands with them too "…over there are Cassie, Cordelia, Adam, Lauren and Xander…" she names one by one on the other table, and each one of them raises their hands as a greeting and Donny does the same thing with a smile "…at the bar, they're Janice, Anya an Dawn…" he says 'hi' and then notices the redheaded girl that's sitting by her sister side, who's looking at her with a little smile, and she 'failed' to introduce.

He holds out his hand to her "Hi, I'm Donny. I thought my sister failed to introduce us, but now I'm guessing she did it on purpose…" he says and Willow blushes while shaking his hand.

Tara laughs a little "Donny, this is Willow. She's my girlfriend" she says with a big smile.

"Your girlfriend?" he asks looking at Tara with a little smile. She nods her head and he gets serious and looks back at Willow "In that case, I'm Donald, not Donny. And I'll be keeping an eye on you"

Willow gulps loudly and Tara holds her hand while glaring at her brother "Don't listen to him, Will"

"Yeah, kinda hard to do that, you know?" Willow says a little scared.

Tara glares back at her brother "Thank you for that!" she says, and instead of sitting back on her chair, she sits on Willow's lap and puts her arms around her neck.

"What are you doing?! Are you trying to get me killed by your big, tall, very muscular, 'with-whom-I-don't-stand-a-chance-against' brother?!" the redhead tries to whisper, but they all hear it anyway and start laughing.

"He's being an ass on purpose"

"No. I'm looking after my little sister. That's my job" he tries to sound serious but a little smile breaks its way into his face.

"Your 'little sister' just turned twenty-nine, bro…" Faith chuckles "...if you're trying to keep her a virgin, you're kinda late" now Donny elbows her and she laughs.

"Donald, be nice to your sister and Willow, would you? I raised you better than that!" Lily scolds him and for a second he looks like an ashamed five year old "Yes, mom" he then looks back at Willow "I'm sorry, Willow. I'm sure you're a good, nice girl if my little sister fell for you"

"Thank you" the redhead says blushing a little.

"...but if you ever hurt her, I'll find you"

"Donald!" Lily scolds him again.

"Anyway!" he says looking at Faith "Can I get a beer or what?" the brunette chuckles a little and looks over at Janice, who just nods her head and takes a beer out of the fridge, before tossing it to her.

Faith catches the bottle and hands it to Donny "Here"

"Thanks, kiddo" he says and ruffles her hair with his hand making her grunt in disgust

"Stop doing that, you're a fuckin' asshole!" she smacks his hand off and tries to smooth over her hair while her girlfriend laughs very amused.

* * *

A few hours later, after almost everyone left, Lily approaches her daughter and Faith, who are rearranging the tables back to where they go "Girls?" she asks.

"Yeah?" Faith says as both of them look at Lily.

"I need to ask you both for a favor"

"Sure, what is it mom?"

"I'm not gonna be here for thanksgiving this year, and I don't know if you are working or have plans already, but I was wondering if you could watch my place for me? At least for a few days a week?" the woman asks with a sheepish smile.

"Why? Where are you going?" Tara asks frowning.

"My last book is selling really well in Europe, so I have to go on a 'book signing' kind of tour for a few weeks"

"And it has to be on thanksgiving?" Faith asks frowning.

"I'm sorry, girls. It wasn't my call… They have everything already lined up" she sighs "I couldn't get them to change the dates, I'm sorry"

Tara smiles at her "It's ok, mom. We're not working on thanksgiving, anyway…" she looks briefly at Faith "…and we haven't even talked about thanksgiving yet" Faith smiles at her and nods her head.

"So, you think you can do it? Just for a couple of days… I mean, you're welcome to stay as long as you want, you know that, girls" Lily smiles at them.

Both girls look at each other again and smile "Yeah, I think we can spend a few weeks at the beach, don't cha?" the brunette asks looking at her best friend, who grins in return and nods her head "Of course"

Lily smiles widely at them "Thank you, girls. Buffy, Willow and whoever you want to invite are absolutely welcome, too. You know? Oh, and Faith? Remember that it's going to be cold. Just because you're at the beach, doesn't mean you have to go out almost naked. It'll be November, after all"

Tara laughs and Faith mock glares at the woman "Don't worry Lily. That won't happen…" she pauses when Lily looks at her in disbelief "…again"

"Great! Thank you, girls. I really appreciate it"


End file.
